City Council unanimously OKs buying 27 acres for bypass project
GREENWOOD — The city was given the go-ahead to both buy and give property to ensure a new bypass will be built after years of preparation with the state.
The City Council voted 6-0 to purchase an easement on 27 acres for $4,000 per acre — or a maximum of $108,000 — at its meeting Tuesday.
Mayor Doug Kinslow confirmed Monday the property, which is owned by the James A. Burgess and Myra Burgess Revocable Living Trust, will be the main site of construction for the first phase of a larger traffic relief project between the city, Arkansas Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.
The City Council also unanimously approved the city donating temporary construction easements within three tracts of city property to the Highway Department for the project. This includes one tract at 803 E. Center St. and two at 30 Bell Road.
PROJECT DETAILS, TRAFFIC AND SAFETY
Kinslow said he went to the Highway Department with a plan for the traffic relief project in 2016, although several mayors before him had done the same thing.
The first, eastern phase of the project will build a bypass from the intersection of Fowler Street and West Elm Street — which is also Arkansas 10 — over Heartsill Creek to the intersection of Arkansas 10 and Arkansas 96, according to the Highway Department website. The bypass will include four travel lanes, a turn lane and sidewalks on both sides.
The phase will also widen East Center Street and include both a connection to Main Street from the new bypass and a new traffic signal where the bypass will meet the Arkansas 10 and 96 intersection, among other elements. Center Street is another part of Arkansas 10.
The project’s second, western phase will widen Arkansas 10 from U.S. 71 to Fowler Street from two lanes to five with curb and gutter, sidewalk and a shared-use path. It will also provide a traffic signal at the intersection of Arkansas 10 and U.S. 71.
Kinslow said Greenwood expects the project to improve the flow of traffic in the city. It’s specifically meant to relieve some of the early morning and afternoon traffic the city experiences stemming from East Pointe Elementary and East Hills Middle schools, which are on the east end of the city.
The new bypass will provide another route through which people from the east side of Greenwood and beyond — like Booneville — can get to work in Fort Smith,
as well as an alternative for truck drivers who have to get through the city, Kinslow said.
“Eighteen-wheelers will no longer be allowed to come through downtown Greenwood, except for local delivery, so that’s going to help with traffic immensely,” Kinslow said.
The state transferred ownership of part of Center Street to Greenwood last year after resurfacing the road — about 3 miles from U.S. 71 to Arkansas 10 known then as Arkansas 10 Spur — per its agreement with the city. This made maintaining the road the city’s responsibility and gave Greenwood the right to restrict truck traffic through the city and route that traffic to the future bypass.
Jared Wiley, chief engineer for preconstruction for the Highway Department, said Greenwood will similarly take over two repaved portions of Arkansas 10 stretching from West Elm Street to Arkansas 96 after phase I of the project is completed.
The Highway Department will also replace two bridges on Arkansas 10 over Vache Grasse and Heartsill creeks for phase I, according to Kinslow. He described the bridges already in place there as “aged,” and said it would take the city about 45 minutes to get around to its eastern side if it lost one or both of them.
“We have a pretty good population on the east side, and in fact, we had just started a new subdivision on the east side for 251 new homes,” Kinslow said. “So as that grows, we need to ensure that we can get back and forth.”
Greenwood is obligated to contribute up to $5 million to help pay for the entire project as part of the agreement as well. Residents voted to extend a quarter-cent sales and use tax for 35 years to generate the money in 2019.
The city also agreed to help secure a right of way from the family of the late resident James Burgess for the first phase, along with that for property the city owns, according to the agreement.
BURGESS PROPERTY
Burgess said he would be willing to participate in the bypass project in a November 2016 letter included in Tuesday’s meeting packet. The letter included an estimated sale price of about $4,000 per acre for about 20 acres of his property, along with certain requests, such as the extension of Main Street to the new bypass.
Kinslow has said the city estimated it would take up to 20 acres to put the bypass through Burgess’ property before learning more land was necessary.
The purchase agreement contains several conditions from the trust for the sale of the property. One is the city grant an exception to its flood plain zoning ordinance to allow the trust to fill the land between the new bypass and the existing Arkansas 10 for commercial use when the bypass project is finished, as well as the city approve any requested sewer and water access to that land for future development.
Kinslow said Hunter Mikles, Greenwood’s flood plain manager, expressed concern the city would responsible for any flooding that would happen from letting the trust develop that land unencumbered by the zoning ordinance.
Daniel McDaniel, the Ward 1, Position 1 alderman who abstained from voting on the agreement, suggested this part of the agreement be amended to read the city will negotiate in good faith to either purchase the property at fair market value or assist as possible to enable the development of the land for commercial use upon completion of the bypass project.
“If they don’t like it, they don’t have to sign it,” McDaniel said.
The agreement also states if the construction and design of the highway creates an enclave or otherwise causes the trust to deem a portion of land “reasonably unusable,” the city will purchase the property at $4,000 per acre, up to a total of five acres.
PROJECT BIDDING
Wiley said the Highway Department expects construction for phase I of the traffic relief project to begin in the spring, with completion estimated for late 2026. The department received one bid for phase I earlier this year from a joint venture consisting of the companies Forsgren Inc., Manhattan Road & Bridge Co. and Mobley Contractors in an amount exceeding $57.8 million.
The Highway Department is funding its share of the cost for phase I with a combination of 80% federal and 20% state money, according to Wiley. The department has also started acquiring property needed to build the bypass.
“In total, phase I of the project will require about 33 acres of land to construct,” Wiley said.
Forty-two parcels of property will be impacted by the bypass project, according to Wiley.
Wiley said Phase II of the traffic relief project will be scheduled as money becomes available. A preliminary estimate puts the cost for the phase at $25-35 million.