New phase of LR road widening to start
The second phase of a project to widen Kanis Road west from South Shackleford Road in west Little Rock will cost $1.25 million.
Boyles Construction of Paron, the low bidder, was awarded the contract to widen Kanis to five lanes from east of Autumn Road to South Bowman Road, according to city documents.
The project is an extension of ongoing work on a $4.2 million project to widen the congested thoroughfare to five lanes from South Shackleford Road west to the latest project.
The contractor already has put up signs along Kanis and adjoining streets notifying residents and commuters of the impending work.
“It’s been awarded, and [Boyles has] been given a notice to proceed,” Mike Hood manager of the civil engineering division of the city’s Public Works Department,
confirmed Monday. He said the contractor has already delivered equipment to the site and is getting ready to break ground.
The first two phases of the project will complete the widening of Kanis between Shackleford and Bowman to five lanes, and a third phase will widen Kanis to three lanes west from Bowman to Gamble Road. The project is the largest road construction the city has undertaken using only city money.
The latest phase of the project is expected to take at least six months.
“I really think it might go a little longer,” Hood said. “We do have some minor utility conflicts to work through, but the utility companies have begun their work and a lot of work has already been done in this area so I’m optimistic it will go pretty quickly.”
Meanwhile, crews will begin laying new pavement on the South Shackleford-to-Autumn phase of the project within 10 days to two weeks, he said.
Burkhalter Technologies Inc. of North Little Rock was awarded that contract about a year ago.
Once the pavement is down, traffic will be routed onto the new pavement and work will begin on the south side.
“The second phase of the work on the south side will go a lot quicker,” Hood said. “All the relocations by the utility companies are complete.”
Barring unforeseen weather complications, the project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020.
“We’re certainly in a good position to make a lot of progress this year,” Hood said.
Preliminary work also is advancing on other improvements in the corridor. Bid documents are being readied for the Bowman-to-Gamble phase. They will be ready before the end of the year.
All of the work will address a growing need.
Near Shackleford, Kanis carries about 21,000 vehicles per day, according to city figures. Traffic estimates say that figure will grow to 31,000 by 2034.
Farther west, the count is smaller — 12,000 daily on Kanis at Kirby Road. But the intersection is the site of an apartment development, and its traffic count is expected to be close to what the easternmost section of the project is now — 18,000 — by 2034.
All three projects were conceived as a single project, but not all of the money was immediately available.
Improving the entire length is expected to cost $12 million. It is being funded by a mix of proceeds from a three-eighths percentage point capital improvement portion of a sales tax increase voters approved in 2011 and capital improvement bonds.
Meanwhile, a study is underway with a conceptual drawing ready to widen Bowman south from Kanis to Cherry Laurel Drive. No money has been allocated for construction.
“It’s an expensive little piece to do for right-of-way acquisition and construction, but that will complete a fully developed intersection [at Kanis and Bowman] with all the turn lanes and everything that you’d want at that location,” Hood said. “Right now, what turn lanes there are are inadequate. They’re too short and traffic stacks up. This will remedy a lot of that at that location.”