SPRINGDALE : Property owners see bypass plans
Posted on Wednesday, June 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/227680/
SPRINGDALE — Property owners along the proposed U. S. 412 bypass north of Springdale on Tuesday saw the final alignment for the first time.
Some weren’t happy with what the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has planned.
Complaining that they will have to leave their homes or move their businesses, residents who found themselves in the road’s path promptly sat down with highway officials to discuss procedures for rightof-way acquisition and relocation.
Highway representatives were at Shaw Elementary School for the first of two public hearings, the second of which is from 4 to 7 p. m. today at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale.
Pam Long and her extended family, who live on 11 acres west of Interstate 540 in Lowell, are in the path of the flyovers and ramps connecting I-540 to the bypass.
Long, her parents and inlaws weren’t sure how much of their land the department wants to take or how much money the state will offer. None of them are interested in living next to two highways, she said.
“We’d like to stay in the area if we can find enough property,” Long said. “It’ll be hard to leave.”
Department employees handed out a one-page graphic of the entire bypass configuration. They showed residents detailed aerial images of the entire 20. 6-mile loop from Tontitown to the U. S. 412 bridge on Beaver Lake.
Though the alignment appears to be set, major question marks remain in regard to funding for the $ 300 million project. Property acquisition could take as much as $ 80 million, but as of Tuesday, the state had only $ 27 million.
As a result, people like Long don’t know when to start looking for new land because they don’t know when the department will come calling.
“We’re in limbo,” she said.
Tuesday’s session, which started at 4 p. m., was attended by property owners still in their work clothes.
Cammie Scott, who owns a house with her husband, Tim, in the 12000 block of South Zion Road in Lowell, wasn’t pleased with the plans.
“It [the alignment ] was south, but now it’s on us,” she said. “I think they could do a better job on the route and look over it one more time.”
The Highway Department needs a few acres of the Scott’s homestead, which includes their barn, as well as some rentals they own down the street.
Tim Scott read over the right of way manual and shook his head.
“I’m not happy right now,” he said.
The public hearings and subsequent review are the last steps before the state seeks final approval for the bypass alignment from the Federal Highway Administration.
Once the state gains that approval, it can begin property appraisal and acquisition. Based on the final environmental impact statement, the bypass will consume as many as 1, © acres, a figure which includes 69 residential properties, 39 businesses and six farms.
Department spokesman Glenn Bolick said appraisal and acquisition could begin this fall.
“Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll begin acquiring right of way,” Bolick said. “It may not be good news for everybody, but it’s great news for us.”
Bolick said it’s a “monumental moment” in the history of the bypass to have public hearings on a final alignment.
“This is huge,” he said. “These are no longer lines in the sand.”
The bypass features a complex interchange with I-540 just north of Wagon Wheel Road.
The plans show the bypass going underneath I-540 while flyovers soar above it. Designed as a “fully directional interchange,” the merging and exit ramps would allow for 50 mph traffic in all directions.
Nearby Silent Grove Road, which provides access to U. S. 71 B, meanwhile, would remain open. The bypass would have exits at U. S. 412 in Tontitown, U. S. 71 B just north of Arkansas 264, Arkansas 265 and U. S. 412 east of Sonora.