Jonesboro Street Projects To Receive Review

A Memphis-based engineering firm will have the task of reviewing nearly 20 highway and street projects in Jonesboro to gauge the importance of each.

The next step will likely involve how to pay for it, Mayor Harold Perrin said Thursday.

The Jonesboro City Council voted Tuesday to hire Fisher and Arnold to complete the study. Perrin said city officials have worked for nearly two years to compile a list of needs for highways, intersections and bypasses in Jonesboro.

The cost was impressive, Perrin said.

“We found about $350 million worth of work,” Perrin said.

Some of the projects include a bypass near Nestle Road, linking U.S. 63 with U.S. 49; widening Harrisburg Road and Race Street to five lanes; building an overpass on Patrick Street from Aggie Road and Cate Avenue and improving the intersections at U.S. 49 and Parker Road as well as Southwest Drive and Main Street.

According to the contract between the city and Fisher and Arnold, engineers will do four things to study the issue.

First, the engineers will do a site assessment of each project idea.

“The engineer will conduct a field inventory visit to each site … During this field visit, the engineer will list all existing relevant physical features which could be impacted by the proposed project that are noteworthy,” the contract noted. “For example, major utility features, cultural features and potential environmental features will be noted for future talking points.”

The company will put together at least 20 24-foot-by-36-foot story boards to explain each project. At least two public meetings will be held to discuss the projects, with the engineering firm providing monthly reports to city officials about the work.

The final piece of the puzzle will involve Fisher and Arnold putting together a project priority list for city officials to study.

Perrin said the plan will allow Fisher and Arnold to go on site to review each project, get a cost estimate, find out how long it will take to complete and look at each project in a best practices model.

Perrin also said there are definitive needs that must be addressed and that a recent study requested by the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce showed that traffic and infrastructure was one of the biggest weaknesses for the city of Jonesboro.

HOW TO PAY FOR IT
While nothing is set in stone, Perrin said city officials will be looking for ways to pay for the projects.

They include a possible bond issue or a sales tax increase, Perrin said, noting the only thing for certain was that the city could not pay for all of the projects through its current budget.

Perrin said a committee will look at the timetable on the bond issue and other issues as well.

Work has already begun on several of the 20 projects through funding from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, including the widening of Harrisburg Road, the Gee Street overpass and the Highland Drive/Nettleton Avenue overpass.

Of the 20 projects, 17 of them are eligible for state or federal funding, Perrin said.

The study is expected to be done by late August or early September.