Fayetteville : Arkansas 265 plan favors least impact
Posted on Friday, August 17, 2007
State and federal highway officials have completed an environmental assessment for $ 15 million in improvements to Arkansas 265 in Fayetteville, where a majority of public comments seeking the lowest possible impact to property owners prevailed.
The work will widen 4. 4 miles of 265 (called Crossover Road in Fayetteville ) from its intersection with Arkansas 45 (Mission Boulevard ) to where it meets the Fayetteville-Springdale border near Lake Fayetteville, said David Nilles, a spokesman for the state Highway and Transportation Department.
Construction start-and-end dates have not been set, he said.
But when the segment is built, it will link up with two other widening projects in northern and southern Springdale that combined will widen or shift a little more than seven miles of Arkansas 265 and carry a total price tag of $ 24. 7 million, Nilles said.
Right now, the highway switches between two and four lanes several times as it winds between Fayetteville and Springdale.
On Fayetteville’s portion, the city is “responsible for 50 percent of project costs up to $ 7. 7 million,” Nilles said, which is exactly half of the current estimate.
The state will be responsible for remaining costs.
State highway off icials worked with the Federal Highway Administration on the environmental assessment, the department said in a news release Thursday.
The department gleaned public comments on location and design for two of the segments during May 9 public hearings in Fayetteville and Springdale.
Most public comments on the Fayetteville portion supported an option dubbed “Alternative H-1,” so state officials have designated it the preferred alternative. This design consists of four travel lanes, a landscaped center median, and bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the road.
The preferred alternative would require only minimal amounts of new right of way, officials said, and “should not require the relocation of any businesses or personal properties, had the highest number of supporting comments from the public, support from the city of Fayetteville and support from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.”
Officials project the preferred alternative will satisfy trafficvolume needs for the “next 20 years.”
The department’s next step is developing an access management plan for the Fayetteville work.
Nilles said that involves the state, the city and the commission determining how many breaks in the median are needed and where they will go. A public meeting date is planned but has not been scheduled.
After that, the department will request approval from the Federal Highway Administration to begin acquiring rights of way. Construction would begin in Fayetteville when funds become available.
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