Jonesboro To Receive $1.2 Million For Overpass Project

A familiar headache for Jonesboro motorists may be a thing of the past after city officials begin work on a plan to build an overpass across Arkansas 18.

Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin said Tuesday that the city has received a $1.2 million federal TIGER, or Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, grant to conduct an environmental review and design plans for the project.

The overpass would be built over a railroad crossing at the intersection of Highland Drive and Nettleton Avenue.

Perrin said the intersection links the city’s industrial area to the rest of town, with Nettleton High School and several churches nearby.

The intersection is often congested with morning, noon and afternoon rush hour traffic, with trains sometimes parked on the train tracks.

Perrin said one train was at the intersection for nearly an hour earlier this year, while emergency vehicles with flashing lights tried to find a detour.

“It is a real major intersection. It sat there blocked for 58 minutes one day. The ambulances and school buses had to find a way to turn around,” Perrin said, noting safety was also an issue. “I thought about the fact that the trains are a mile long. What would happen if a kid were to walk in between those train (cars)? I’d hate to think. He could get dragged off.”

The city plans to add $300,000 in local matching funds to help with the project. Perrin said city officials are looking for ways to add to the funding, including talking to officials with Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad for help.

The city received help from the railroad, the school district, Medic One ambulance, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, State Rep. John Hutchison, R-Harrisburg, Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, and Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, and their staffs, Perrin said.

NEXT STEP
Perrin said the $1.2 million grant is the first TIGER grant that the city has ever received.

“They are very competitive,” Perrin said of the grant.

The next step will involve the city receiving official confirmation of receiving the grant. Once that is done, the project will be put out for bid with the bid being approved by the Jonesboro City Council.

Perrin said the project is one of several projects that the city is wanting to accomplish in the next few years.

The projects include building a bypass near Nestle Road as well as upgrading U.S. 63 to Interstate 555.

Perrin said he plans to meet with state and federal highway officials this week to discuss issues.