North-south roads near completion
Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/brog/News/55678/
Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series detailing area road projects.
ROGERS — Workers will complete a series of connective road projects in 2008, providing a bridge of access to several of the city’s well-traveled existing east-west corridors.
City planners and developers have emphasized the need for more northsouth roads to bring traffic bound for major roads like Pleasant Grove Road and Walnut Street off of a congested Interstate 540 and onto city streets. In 2008, many of those projects will be completed, said Steve Glass, the city’s director of transportation and planning.
Two developers will complete infrastructure for planned-unit developments and accompanying roads between the retail destinations of Walnut Street’s Scottsdale Center and New Hope Road’s Pinnacle Hills Promenade. Haynes Limited and Michael Rees will construct the commercial projects and, with them, rerouted and expanded portions of 40 th and 45 th streets.
A new, two-lane 40 th Street is already complete, though it has yet to be opened. The five-lane 45 th Street is 75 percent finished, Glass said. It should be complete by February. The road will connect to New Hope Road at the 45 th Street bridge, which was completed earlier this year using funds from a $ 13 million bond issue approved by voters in November.
On the city’s eastern end, work is under way to complete another street that provides access for four public schools and growing single-family subdivisions. South First Street continues to be closed to southbound traffic so that it can be widened to three lanes from New Hope Road to Olrich Street. While traffic will be allowed to travel north through the construction zone, southbound traffic will be detoured for another three months. The project should be completed by May, Glass said.
In southwest Rogers, work is under way on Pauline Whitaker Parkway, a northsouth street that will connect with the Promenade interchange on the west side of I-540, providing access to the new Mercy Medical Center, which will open in March. The road should be completed in May, Glass said.
The city’s revised master street plan shows the parkway connecting with a developer-funded expansion of Pinnacle Hills Parkway with a roundabout. The project has not yet been started.
In November, the City Council approved a $ 7. 25 million contract with Decco Construction to widen 26 th Street from two to five lanes, rerouting it to connect with Pleasant Grove Road on the east side of Tuscany Square. The project will take 540 days to complete, Glass said.
In October, the City Council approved a $ 3. 4 million contract with APAC Construction to widen a segment of Pleasant Grove Road between I-540 and Bellview Road to five lanes. The road was designed to promote ease of access to residential neighborhoods on the east side of I-540 and commercial projects on the west side. The project will be completed in 450 days, Glass said. Phase 2 of the project will stretch to Champions Drive and will incorporate a revised access plan for cars at Bellview Elementary School, which is known for its traffic before and after school.
That phase will be funded through a proposed $ 120 million 2010 bond issue, which plans to allocate $ 100 million to 26 road projects, including Perry and Bellview roads, which are under design.
For a draft of projects, visit http: // www. rogersarkansas. com / planning / 2010 Bond. asp.