Road, drainage work top projects in Van Buren

The widening of Rena Road, a project 20 years in the making, is finally underway, according to Van Buren Mayor Bob Freeman.

“AOG and the water and sewer people are up there as we speak,” Freeman told The City Wire Wednesday (Jan. 18). “The utility relocation should be finished around April, and right behind that actual road construction will start.”

The Arkansas Highway Department will oversee the project, while Forsgren, Inc., will perform the work. Freeman expects the project will take more than a year to complete.

Freeman said around “the early summer of 2012,” Rena Road will turn into a one-way, and that construction would cause a reroute of normal traffic flow.

“Roadway construction will be going through the summer of 2013,” he said. “It will be a major, major inconvenience for everyone involved, but we’re going to do the best we can. It is what it is, we’ve just got to get through it. But when it’s finished it’ll be great.”

A second improvement project the city will tackle in 2012 is the Southside Drainage project in the areas of Vine, 11th, and Drennen Streets. Freeman said heavy rains bring heavy flooding and that “water backs up even during a medium rain.”

The project, funded mostly through a $325,000 Arkansas Economic Development Commission grant and some local funding, will not completely fix the flooding problem, Freeman said, but it would help.

“We’re not going to eliminate the problem in every situation. It’s in the flood plain. When you get three 50-year rains in one year, there’s not a lot you can do, but our goal is to improve what we’ve got,” Freeman said.

Freeman continued: “That’s in an old part of town that’s seen a lot more rooftops and asphalt over the years, and that means you’ve got more water going to a drainage system that was built in the 1920s or ’30s. It would cost millions of dollars to redo the entire south side of town, and so we’ve got to work within our budget.”

It is this “work within the budget” attitude that will fuel other smaller overlay projects throughout 2012. In Freeman’s office, an aerial map of the city shows streets and roads marked with green, yellow, and red colors. Freeman notes the green roadways are “good to go,” but that the yellow need overlay improvements, but are not in the critical stage the red is (Industrial Park).

Freeman hopes the city can tackle Industrial Park following completion of Rena Road in 2013, but in the meantime, the yellow grid of roadways will be receiving some attention in 2012.

“We have about $600,000 we’ll do in overlays to these areas. Every neighborhood’s got something. We’ll be focusing on the grade-yellow areas that are high traffic. But it’s just like a personal checkbook. We’re not the federal government. We’ve got to balance our budget and use the resources we’ve got. The higher traffic areas need to be fixed now, and so we’ll be looking to get the most bang for our buck rather than making a few improvements here and there.”

Freeman did not feel comfortable revealing which of the yellow roads would be receiving attention, as the survey process is still going on, but said there would be an update at February’s State of the City Meeting (Feb. 27).

When asked about any potential ballot measures, Freeman smiled and reiterated, “Come to the State of the City meeting.”

VAN BUREN EVENTS AND HONORS
In addition to the capital improvement projects planned for 2012, Freeman also noted the following:
• The Keep Van Buren Beautiful program, part of the national Keep America Beautiful campaign, received the President’s Circle Award, one of only six in the state to do so.
• The Annual Old Timers Day Arts and Crafts Festival is set for May 11-13 on Historic Main Street.
• The Babe Ruth 13-15-Year Old World Series comes to Van Buren’s Field of Dreams Aug. 18-25.
• The Annual Fall Festival Arts and Crafts Fair is set for Oct. 12-14 on Historic Main Street.