Drivers face detour when work starts

Replacement of Spanker Creek Bridge set to begin

BENTONVILLE — Thousands of drivers will have to find a different route beginning Monday when work starts to replace Spanker Creek Bridge.

“Seven thousand cars a day travel that route,” Benton County Judge Barry Moehring said. “We have worked with the city of Bella Vista and school district to get the word out that people need to go an alternate route.”

The bridge, which is on Spanker Road north of Benton County 40, has been repaired before so a new bridge will be built, Moehring said. Detour signs are already up in the area, he said.

Flooding damaged the bridge in April 2017 when the creek topped it and washed away the asphalt, leaving the concrete structure exposed. The pavement was replaced as a temporary measure.

The bridge is a 60-foot span on six box culverts. The new bridge will span 102 feet and raise the north and south approaches, according to the county.

Moehring expects the bridge to be completed in early May, but winter weather

may delay the work.

The project will cost from $1.2 million to $1.3 million. Moehring credited former Benton County Judge Bob Clinard with getting a $500,000 grant from the Economic Development Council to help pay for the new bridge.

Leslee Wright, a spokeswoman for the Bentonville School District, said officials have sent parents notices of the road’s closing.

The closing will impact five schools in the district: Cooper Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary School, Sugar Creek Elementary School, Old High Middle School and Barker Middle School.

Additional staff will be at the schools for parents to drop off children earlier, Wright said. Early drop-off time at the elementary schools will be 6:45 a.m. and the middle school drop-off time will be 7:10 a.m.

Wright said parents must walk children into the buildings if they drop them off early.

Bentonville High School’s start time is 8:55 a.m., but students there shouldn’t be impacted by the closing, Wright said.

Chris Webb, the school district’s transportation director, said staff members prepared for the project and developed routes last year.

Bella Vista Mayor Peter Christie said the bridge floods with nearly every big rain. The new bridge will mean residents can make their daily commute with more confidence, Christie said.

“We have been urging residents to examine alternate routes available and to plan ahead for this lengthy closure” Christie said. “We ask our residents to be patient during this process and understand that the outcome will outweigh the inconvenience they face now.”

According to Christie, drivers use Spanker Road to avoid traffic congestion on Bella Vista Way through Bella Vista. State and county traffic information Christie provided show the daily count on U.S. 71, at the Arkansas-Missouri border was 23,000 in 2017. U.S. 71 is Bella Vista Way through Bella Vista. Just south of Mercy Way, the count increased to 41,000.

He said in September the daily traffic count on Benton County 40/West McNelly Road was 9,700 in 2017. A Road Department traffic count this year as part of the bridge replacement showed the count about 10,500. Spanker Road connects to West McNelly Road, which connects to Bella Vista Way.

Harold Klee has lived on Spanker Road near the bridge for 32 years. He’s seen the bridge wash out before and flood his neighbor’s property.

“It floods because a bunch of trees wash down the creek and acts like a dam,” he said. “They are suppose to raise the bridge by three feet, and it may stop the flooding.”

Robert Cross, who owns Camino Real Foods at 8244 W. McNelly St. near the bridge, is excited a new bridge will be installed. Cross said it doesn’t flood on his property, but there’s significant flooding in the area and high water causes the bridge to be closed.

Klee said closing Spanker Road will be a small inconvenience for him, but probably a bigger inconvenience for Bella Vista residents who use the route as a short cut. Klee complained about the traffic and people speeding through the area. He remembers when Spanker Road was gravel.

“I’m going to enjoy it a few months without the traffic and speeders,” he said.

Leslee Wright, a spokeswoman for the Bentonville School District, said officials have sent parents notices of the road’s closing.