Parker Road extension project underway in Jonesboro

Highway crew members have begun working on construction for the $2.2 million Parker Road extension along Interstate 555 designed to expedite travel from southwest Jonesboro into the city, Mayor Harold Perrin said.

The extension will connect Southwest Drive to Washington Avenue alongside the newly designated interstate, which is a section of U.S. 63. Work is expected to be completed in six months, meaning the connection could be finished by early September.

“This is a project we’ve been working on for three years,” Perrin said. “Highway 226 goes out to Ridgepoint and a huge population southwest of town who are currently forced to meander through residential neighborhoods or go to Southwest Drive to get downtown.

“Now they’ll be able to travel on Parker and go to Washington Avenue, where there’s very little traffic, and arrive downtown.”

The $2.2 million project is funded with $1.267 million in federal dollars passed through the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, and $960,000 from the City of Jonesboro. The federal share was funding designated to improve traffic at intersections along U.S. 63, which was designated as I-555 March 11.

The Parker Road extension began as a plan by the city to relieve traffic congestion at its intersection with Southwest Drive, as well as decrease traffic on the Southwest Drive corridor, city engineer Craig Light said.

“We had to do a traffic study to show we would be decreasing traffic on the Southwest Drive interchange, and once that was satisfied, we were released to start acquiring properties,” Light said.