Connection to bring relief to Joyce and College intersection in Fayetteville, city says - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Connection to bring relief to Joyce and College intersection in Fayetteville, city says - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

FAYETTEVILLE -- A connection between two dead-end streets will help relieve traffic at one of the city's busiest intersections, officials say.

Construction to extend Sain Street from College Avenue to Vantage Drive south of Joyce Boulevard should begin in about a year, City Engineer Chris Brown said. The project should finish construction in late 2021 or early 2022, he said.

"It provides a relief valve for Joyce Boulevard," Brown said. "For people who are wanting to get to 71B, there will be another east-west connection, so you could bypass Joyce."

About 39,000 cars go through the intersection every day heading north-south on College Avenue, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Another 30,000 travel east-west on Joyce Boulevard.

Design is finished, and bids for construction contractors should open in August or September, he said.

The estimated $6.6 million project is being paid for through a combination of federal and city money. A federal grant will pay 80%, with the city paying 20%, or about $1.3 million. The city's portion will come from the transportation bond issue voters approved in April.

Design of the connection was included in a 2006 bond referendum. Design and construction of another project to complete Rupple Road took priority and a large chunk of staff time, Brown said. That project finished this summer.

The Sain Street project got going in earnest in 2015 when the city received a $320,000 federal grant to pay for the design. The city paid another $80,000 for design out of the 2006 bond.

The planned connection makes development nearby a no-brainer, said Hugh Jarratt, an attorney with Lindsey Management. Lindsey has a mixed-use project in development that would lie on both sides of Sain Street, south of Mud Creek.

"As soon as Sain is built, all of that property will be developed -- whether it's us or somebody else," Jarratt said. "Just look at the growth in that area."

The project will involve building a bridge over Mud Creek and its trail. An environmental study was done in association with the federal grant process and was approved by the Federal Highway Administration, Brown said. The design is sensitive to environmental concerns, he said.

No part of the bridge will go in the stream, Brown said. However, some trees will have to be removed to make room for it, he said.

Council member Sarah Bunch, who represents that part of town and serves on the council's Transportation Committee, supports building the connection. She said she understands why residents may have concerns about the construction's impact.

"It's turned into an area that people think of as a place to walk and enjoy," Bunch said. "Anytime you put a bridge across something like that, you have to be careful about what you do."

The connection will tie into a larger picture of transportation projects on the north part of town, Bunch said. For instance, the city plans to move the Fulbright Expressway interchange at Shiloh Drive east to the intersection with Steele Boulevard and put a roundabout there. That project is expected to be completed within three years.

The U.S. 71B corridor plan, which the City Council adopted this month, recommends various connections from and near College Avenue. One would realign Front Street to connect to Frontage Road through Joyce Boulevard. The Front Street and Millsap Road intersection would be moved farther east and connect to the Fulbright Expressway at Sain Street.

Connecting Sain Street to the Fulbright Expressway has been on the city's plans for a number of years. The flyover bridge connecting Interstate 49 to College Avenue, which opened in 2014, was designed to accommodate a connection with Sain Street. However, other plans could have a roundabout under the flyover, rather than a direct connection, Brown said. The city has floated a number of design concepts for the connection, he said.

Doing a study of that area is part of the 71B plan, but detailed design and construction will be a separate, long-term project, Brown said. The city and Arkansas Department of Transportation will work together

The city and Arkansas Department of Transportation have agreed to transfer ownership of U.S. 71B between the Fulbright Expressway interchange on the north and U.S. 71/Fulbright Expressway interchange on the south end of town. However, the Sain Street connection lies just north of the boundary of what the city will own.

NW News on 12/24/2019

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2019-12-24 09:37:50Z
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/dec/24/connection-to-bring-relief-to-joyce-and/?news-arkansas-nwa
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