FAYETTEVILLE -- Planned improvements along a section of Old Wire Road drew strong approval from most residents who reviewed plans Tuesday.
At least one resident, though, expressed concern about the amount of his front yard a wide, trail-quality sidewalk would take.
The city hosted an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. at city hall to show the plans along Old Wire from Mission Boulevard to Ash Street. The improvements will include sidewalks, new storm sewers and improvements such as turn lanes. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2016.
Residents such as Donna Clark of Fayetteville, who lives along that section of Old Wire, and John Curlett, who lives nearby and travels along that section, were particularly pleased that deep drainage ditches on either side of the road would be covered. Drainage would be improved by underground storm sewers. Both Clark and Curlett are parents who are concerned about safety along the road with the ditches.
Improving drainage in the area is a major goal of the project, said Matt Casey, engineering design manager for the city.
The plans also include a 10 foot-wide trail-quality sidewalk on the street's east side and a regular 5 foot-wide sidewalk on the west side. "I wouldn't mind a five-foot sidewalk," said Gary Lee, an area resident on the east side of the street. "My wife and I walk. We'd use the sidewalk and be glad to have it. But 10 feet is a lot." Lee could, for instance, lose trees from his yard with such a wide sidewalk, he said.
The city will do what it can to hold property acquisitions to a minimum, Casey said. The city had planned to extend the trail system alongside a nearby creek, but that proved impractical, Casey said. The creek area was too inaccessible. So the location of the trail in that area, which would be part of the city system, was moved to the side of the road, he said.
NW News on 09/23/2015