Area Road Woes Could Kill Boom

If area planners could put “time in a bottle,” the first thing that they’d like to do is get about 10 years back. The late Jim Croce probably has as much chance of getting Northwest Arkansas’ desperately needed highway construction done in the next decade as they do.

And the baddest news in the whole dang town, experts say, is this: The area’s surging population and traffic counts indicate about $1.3 billion worth of new highway construction is needed right now. That work isn’t expected to be started, let alone completed, anytime soon.

“We are about 10 years behind,” said John McLarty, a transportation planner with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.

Ozark International Consultants, a Fayetteville infrastructure development and support firm founded in 1991, came up with the $1.3 billion figure. Uvalde Lindsey, OIC’s president, said that’s based on the average daily traffic growth and the ability of the existing roadway system to carry additional traffic generated by population growth.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $275 billion federal highway bill, and the U.S. Senate approved one for $318 billion. President George W. Bush decided May 5 to support funding the bill at $275 million, up from his original support for a $256 million bill. That could amount to a 9 percent increase for the state over the previous six-year highway bill.

Based on speculative funding allocations from the proposed highway bills, the entire state would only get $2.4 billion in highway funding for the next six years. Most state road projects are funded through 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent state funds.

“Obviously we are not going to get $1.3 billion out of $2.4 billion,” Lindsey said.

And nothing will likely be settled until after the fall elections.

McLarty said he based his assessment on the amount of time it takes to complete a substantial highway project, particularly one that will impact a lot of land owners and businesses such as the $200 million to $250 million U.S. Highway 412 bypass north of Springdale.

That project is expected to be 14.6 to 18.9 miles, depending on the final route chosen, according to the environmental impact statement for the Springdale bypass compiled by the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department and the Federal Highway Administration. It will provide a divided highway route from east Springdale to somewhere near Tontitown.

If the Springdale bypass route were magically approved tomorrow, the subsequent engineering/design phase could take anywhere from six to 18 months, said Randy Ort, the AHTD’s public affairs officer.

Buying right of ways could take two additional years before construction could begin. The AHTD plans to hold two public hearings about the route this June in Springdale, and Ort said participation at that event is the best thing the public can do to speed the process.

“The right of way alone for the 412 bypass project is expected to be about $42 million,” said Jeff Hawkins, director of the regional planning commission.

Use it or Lose it

Northwest Arkansas leaders say $46 million that had been earmarked for local projects in the 2004-2007 statewide transportation improvement plan (STIP) is now being used elsewhere. That money included $21.25 million for the proposed Bella Vista bypass in 2004, $20.5 million for the Springdale bypass and $5 million again for Bella Vista in 2005.

Multiple delays in both projects have made it obvious that neither will be far enough along to use the money on time. That money is now going to projects such as resurfacing on Interstate 540 and the widening of U.S. Highway 65 for about six miles from Burlington to Bear Creek Springs, north of Harrison.

“I can’t stress enough what a priority the Springdale bypass is in Northwest Arkansas,” Ort said. “But we don’t have a closet down here with shelves and money sitting in jars. We operate on the federally required STIP, which is an evolving document. Once we get a Springdale bypass location nailed down and can begin designing it and purchasing right of way, we’ll move forward with it.”

The state can potentially lose funds to other states in years that it doesn’t spend its allotted federal money. Ort said that’s why AHTD applies funds to projects that are ready to go.

The anticipated Bella Vista bypass will be a $193 million, nearly 20-mile improvement. One other major project, an eight-mile linkage from the Springdale bypass to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill is expected to cost about $62 million.

Scott Van Laningham, executive director of the airport, said assuming a decision on the Springdale bypass is reached this year, it could still take three years to complete the airport road.

About $15 million in federal funds is set aside for that project. The airport authority, Van Laningham said, is willing and make up the rest by issuing bonds to proceed with the project as a toll road.

It is impossible to estimate what the two-county area will receive the next go round, Ort said. Indications are that there will be more money, but how much is unknown.

State Study

The highway department conducted a 2003 study that determined the state needed $16 billion in road improvements. Since the state has received about $400 million per year in funding, it appears new federal funding won’t come close to $16 billion. The study identified I-540 between Fayetteville and Bentonville as one area “needing additional capacity,” which means more lanes.

If I-540 was expanded to six lanes from exit 62 in Fayetteville to exit 86 in Bentonville, Lindsey said, that’s 48 lane miles.

“That could be a $250 million project,” Lindsey said.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the population of Arkansas has grown by 2 percent in the last 2.5 years since the census was taken. Benton and Washington Counties combined account for 58 percent of that growth. Alone, Benton County accounts for 35 percent of the growth statewide.

Hawkins said traffic in the area has increased by at more than twice the population increase since 1990.

“Traffic volumes on 540 have increased about 10 percent per year,” Hawkins said. “Although population rate has increased about 5 percent per year. Some of the traffic volumes in Bentonville have increased 400 to 500 percent.”

The highway department and the regional planning commission spent $8,000 on software called TransCad to develop a living road model. The entire modeling project, McLarty said, could cost up to $300,000 to complete and is slated to be finished in fall 2005.

The living map will eventually give a more accurate traffic demand model, because researchers can ask the program certain “what ifs,” such as if a new retail store were placed at an intersection, how traffic would be affected.

Local Spending Will Top $28 Milllion

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is spending more than $28 million on road construction projects that are under way or will begin in 2004 in Benton and Washington counties. That estimate is based on figures from state resident engineers Jeff Stroud and David Foster.

The municipal project that’s likely to have the largest tangible price tag is a $105 million bond issue passed by the city of Springdale.

All of the projects proposed in the bond issue are slated to be completed by 2008. The bulk of Springdale’s construction work will run from 2005 through 2007 and wind down in 2008.

Rogers passed a $45 million bond issue in 2003 that will pay for street projects through 2006. That amount includes construction on Pleasant Grove Road, Horsebarn Road, 26th Street and First Street. The state is spending $9.6 million on New Hope Road in Rogers.

Bentonville is expected to spend more than $3.6 million on street construction this year, and Fayetteville has more than $2.5 million in their budget. Both Bentonville and Fayetteville have passed sales tax increases to pay for capital improvements.

The city of Fayetteville requested $12 million in federal appropriations for the next three years for road construction in the CMN Business Park area alone.

“We have a resolution on the agenda to produce about $5 [million] to $6 million from the city and the state would match us 50/50 on the work,” said Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody.

Roads will get built faster if the cities can pledge 50 percent of the funds versus the standard 20 percent, Coody said.

With any major street project the time from budget approval to design to right-of-way acquisition and construction could easily be two years, said Mike Churchwell, Bentonville’s city engineer.