More than 100 people were on hand warily talking with state highway officials Tuesday about proposed options to extend and widen Arkansas 265 around the east side of Rogers to Arkansas 94, which is East New Hope Road.
“I just wish they’d leave us alone, we’ve got (U.S.) 71 and (Interstate) 540,” said Sandra White, who lives at Feast Place in Lowell. “We’re about a mile from 71 and two miles from 540.”
Pat Jackman, lives on one side of Old Wire and her parents on the other.
“It’ll take my parents’ place completely,” Jackman said.
White and Jackman said many homes in the area don’t have access to city water and use wells. Several are located in front yards along Old Wire Road and could be lost to widening.
Teresa and Steve Palmer, who also live at Feast Place, said they don’t want the traffic to ruin the peace and natural beauty of their property.
“I don’t want to live next to a five-lane road,” Teresa Palmer said. “If I’d wanted to live by a five-lane road, I wouldn’t have built in the middle of my 10 acres.”
The most contentious proposal, a route farther to the east in the steep area around Cross Hollow is still on the maps even though it would handle less traffic and cost more than the other proposals, based on a highway department report, according to Damon Donnell. More than 80 area residents have signed petitions asking that the route be dropped. The area would be hard to build on, would take more homes than other options and could encroach on environmentally and historically sensitive areas near Beaver Lake.
“Until it’s off this, I’m going to fight with my last breath,” Donnell said. “I really don’t understand why it’s still on there if it’s not going to be an option.”
The most popular among the options appeared to be one going along much of the existing Old Wire Road from Arkansas 265 and Arkansas 264 in Springdale and connecting with either First Street or Old Wire in Rogers. There are a couple of options for getting around rough terrain in the Dogwood Avenue area.
Dick Trammel, Arkansas Highway commissioner, said the easiest and cheapest option would be to take advantage of existing infrastructure. First Street in Rogers is already five lanes.
“This is the least expensive way we can move traffic off Highway 71 and Interstate 540 with the money we have now,” Trammel said. “This is a very important project for the future that can be done now.”
Highway officials stressed they are still in the information-gathering stage and expect to have at least two more planned. Those attending the sessions are being asked if there is a need for an improved north-south corridor and to choose which combination of segments they prefer and why. No action is also an alternative.
The highway department looks at the potential impact a project will have on people, the environment and the cost, according to Randy Ort, a Highway Department spokesman.
“Hopefully, we’ll take this information and be able to identify a preferred alternative,” Ort said. “We’re about two years away from having a preferred alignment.”
The project is in the department’s newest four-year plan and has the blessing of regional planners. Another north-south route east of the Northwest Arkansas metro area has been on wish lists since at least 1973.
Arkansas 265 is currently being improved from Arkansas 16 in Fayetteville and, in coming years, will be improved through Springdale as far north as Arkansas 264.