Ceremony kicks off Levy project upgrade in North Little Rock

North Little Rock has spent the past several years building up its downtown, but city officials said the rest of the city will not be forgotten and that pledge starts with Levy.

Work is beginning on a project in the Levy area that will run from 33rd Street to 38th Street. Officials say the goal is to make the area more walkable with wider sidewalks, repavings, buffers, parallel parking, landscaping and new street lines.

The hope is that the improvements will encourage people to stop and walk around more for shopping and other activities.

The project, known as the Levy Jump Start Program, broke ground Friday afternoon with about 40 people gathered to listen to Mayor Joe Smith, development director Robert Birch, Metroplan Executive Director Tab Townsell and Levy Baptist Church pastor Steven Tiner speak.

“Mayor Smith has always said that downtown is the front porch of our city, but a house is more than a front porch,” Birch said.

Under the new plan, the triangle split on Pike will change to one- way onto Camp Robinson in an effort to reduce the number of accidents in the area. The eight- to nine-month project will cost $2.3 million, with the city’s share about $400,000 and the rest coming from the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Planning focused on the Levy and Park Hill neighborhoods has been in the works for the past seven years, according to city officials. The goal is to encourage redevelopment of the areas as places to live, work and play in a compact urban setting.

“Seven years ago Metroplan came out with a series of grants to support economic development, revitalize some areas that have been underserved,” Birch told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “When the process started, we submitted five locations and Metroplan accepted two: Park Hill and Levy.”

Birch said the Park Hill project will cost around $2.8 million, with $660,000 paid by the city. Townsell said the projects have the full support of Metroplan.

“We love this project, and we are dedicated to this project,” Townsell said. “We are dedicated to revitalizing the streets and the neighborhoods around them.”

Groundbreaking has been a long time coming, Birch said, because so many details had to be worked out.

Birch said a consultant led a community group that spent the first couple of years walking around neighborhoods and holding community meetings to get an idea of what could be done.

“I know I am the representative of the faith community here today, but I got to admit, I lost some faith a few days over the last few years that it would ever get done,” Tiner said, laughing, during Friday’s ceremony.

Birch also noted that the project couldn’t be carried out without the efforts of project leader Jenna Rhodes, who died unexpectedly in May of 2019.

“When you think of this project, remember Jenna Rhodes, because she was the heart and soul of this project,” Birch said.

Birch said that when Rhodes passed away, he took over and Smith expressed that he wanted to see the project get to the engineering stage.

“At that point, I had to jump in with both feet and take over all the steps,” he said.

Park Hill is expected to have a groundbreaking in February or March.

“The project is a little different in Park Hill,” Birch said. “Highway 107 runs through Park Hill, and that is a state highway, so [the Arkansas Department of Transportation] has been heavily involved as well.”

Birch said both plans are sorely needed.

“[In] both areas the sidewalks are kind of dangerous because they are set right on the road,” he said. “These projects will put sidewalks 3 to 4 feet off the road with grass and landscape barriers.

“The widening will make it more walkable, and we will have crosswalks with push buttons.”

Birch said the next step for the city is to focus on some areas along East Broadway and in other parts of the city.