Rogers Ifrastructure Catching Up With Growth

Since the population boom that hit Northwest Arkansas in 1994 and 1995 has slowed down, Rogers has a chance to improve its infrastructure to keep up with the growth of the previous decade.

“I think it’s good,” Mayor John Sampier says. “You can’t keep that kind of skyrocketing growth going in a community.”

Rogers population has increased by at least 39 percent so far this decade, from 24,692 in 1990 to 34,267 in 1996. The city’s population has been increasing by 3.5 percent per year since then, says Sampier.

In 1996, Rogers voters approved a 1 percent city sales tax to pay for $38 million in improvements, which included $20 million for street and drainage work, $9 million for a new police and courts building and $5.7 million for two new fire stations and a training facility. The remaining will be used for smaller projects.

Among other projects, the street work includes:

• $6 million to widen Olive Street to three lanes from Second Street to the U.S. Highway 71 expressway. Work on that project began in 1991 and should be completed this fall, says Maurice Kolman, Rogers’ director of transportation and planning. (Part of the money for the Olive Street improvement came from a $6.5 million bond issue in 1990.)

• $2.1 million to widen North 24th Street to three lanes from Walnut Street to U.S. Highway 62. Construction on that project began in the spring of 1998 and should be completed sometime next year.

• $2 million to widen Dixieland Road from two to four lanes between Oak Street and New Hope Road. Work on that project began in June and should be completed sometime next year.

Police and courts

Construction also began in June on a $9 million, 47,300-SF police and courts building on a 15-acre tract at the intersection of Dixieland and New Hope Roads. The new building, which is being constructed by Nabholz Construction Corp. of Rogers, is expected to be completed by the end of 1999.

Capt. Steve Russell of the Rogers Police Department says the new building will triple the amount of space available at the current downtown facility, which was built in 1929 as a city hall. The old building will be used for other city offices after the police department moves out, he says.

The police department will occupy 38,800 SF of the new building. The remaining 8,500 SF will be occupied by the Rogers Municipal Court.

“I’m afraid we might get lost in the new building,” says Russell. “We’ve needed more space for many, many years.”

Russell says the city has planned the new building to accommodate growth over the next 15 years. The new building will accommodate 150 police officers and civilian personnel.

Fire stations

The new tax will help fund $5.7 million in improvements for the city’s fire department. That amount includes:

• $2.8 million for a new, 25,000-SF headquarters building at 201 N. First St.

• $1.3 million for a new, 6,000-SF fire station (No. 5) at 2525 S. Champions Drive. This amount included a new fire truck and ambulance.

• $552,000 for a new, 6,000-SF training facility at 3003 W. Oak St. The facility includes classrooms, offices, a drill tower and evolution field.

• $871,000 to replace two aging fire trucks.

• $32,000 to remodel station No. 2 at 1907 S. 17th St. and station No. 3 at 400 W. Hudson Road.

Those amounts include the buildings and equipment. The new stations and training facility were completed in late 1997 and early 1998.

School expansion

The student population in Rogers’ schools has increased by more than 50 percent since the 1989-90 school year, from 6,493 to 10,004. During the mid-1990s, the student population was increasing by about 600 students per year, says David Cauldwell, business manager for the school district. Last year, the population increased by only about 200 students, he says.

Highway improvements

Construction should begin this summer to widen a 2.2-mile section of West Walnut Street (U.S. Highway 71 B) west from the Dixieland Road intersection.

The $4.9 million project is being undertaken by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. The highway department is paying 20 percent of the project. The federal government is footing the other 80 percent.

Six new traffic lights will be installed along the newly widened road. The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 1999. The highway department plans to keep West Walnut open during the construction.

The widening will allow for four 11-foot travel lanes and one 12-foot center turn lane, says Keith Stephens, a spokesman for the highway department. Curbs, gutters and sidewalks will also be built alongside the road.

Also, the highway department plans to widen a 3.3-mile section of New Hope Road (Arkansas Highway 94) between U.S. 71 and U.S. 71B and to put in turn lanes at the intersection of New Hope and 71B. Plans for that work haven’t been finalized, however.