Towson project moves step further

FORT SMITH — A project to improve one of the city’s main streets is one step closer to being realized.

The Fort Smith Capital Improvement Plan Advisory Committee approved the five-year capital improvement plan it developed for the streets, bridges and associated drainage programs for 2020-2024 during its meeting Thursday. One of the projects in the plan is a partnering project with the Arkansas Department of Transportation to renovate an about 4-mile section of Towson Avenue between Garrison Avenue and Zero Street.

A resolution expressing the city’s willingness to partner with the department of transportation for the project was approved by city Board of Directors during its meeting Tuesday.

The plan states the project will include upgrading the drainage system on the street to current standards, replacing the curb/guttering and driveway approaches, installing sidewalks and pavement improvements to the surface. The cost of the project is estimated at $12.5 million, with Fort Smith’s share being 16%, but no more than $2 million. Construction is estimated to start in 2022 with the section of Towson Avenue to be removed from the state highway system and become a city street when the project is finished.

Two partnering projects with the highway department are also in the capital improvement plan. One of the projects, according to the plan, includes widening a section of Zero Street, or Arkansas 255, from just west of Massard Road to its new alignment with Frontier Road. The cost of the project is being shared with the department, Fort Smith, Barling and the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority. Fort Smith’s share is $4.8 million, with the department expecting construction to begin next year.

The other partnering project with the department is for the widening of Arkansas 45 between Zero Street and U.S. 71, as well as the installation of traffic signals at the intersections of Arkansas 45 with Planters Road and Geren Road. The department’s cost estimate for the entire project is $16 million, with Fort Smith and Sebastian County providing money not to exceed $4 million and $1.1 million, respectively. Construction is estimated to begin in 2022.

In a memo to the committee, Stan Snodgrass, city Engineering Department director, said the program includes a combination of neighborhood street improvements, major street projects, local and basin wide drainage improvement and traffic signal and intersection improvement. The money would come from the city’s one-cent sales tax.

The plan calls for more than $42.7 million in expenditures during 2020, with more than $142.3 million to be spent from 2020 to 2024. Matt Alt, chairman of the advisory committee, said the plan will be presented to the city directors during a study session Oct. 22.