Mercy Way bridge to be improved, originally finished 19 years ago
The Mercy Way bridge is expected to see renovations over the next few years, but its initial construction back in the 1990s was a trial in and of itself.
Funding was approved for the initial planning in 1990, The Weekly Vista reported in its Oct. 10, 1990, issue. The POA and Cooper Communities each pitched in $1,875 and the county provided an additional $3,750 to make an even $7,500 for the project. Initial estimates placed the cost for this bridge at a minimum of $300,000, which, adjusted for inflation, is $551,728 in 2017.
In the Feb. 27, 1991, issue, The Vista reported that Bruce Rutherford, Benton County judge at the time, said the state would fund 80 percent of the bridge’s construction, then estimated at a minimum of $320,000, with the remaining 20 percent split among the POA, Cooper Communities and Benton County. Replacing the dangerous bridge that was part of the Lake Bella Vista dam, he told The Vista, was important and could prevent future catastrophes.
Rutherford told The Vista that he hoped work could begin later that year. The goal was to relegate the dam to foot and bicycle traffic, which it has continued to handle into recent years.
The bridge wasn’t completed until 1998.
Until the bridge was finished, the Lake Bella Vista dam was part of Dartmoor Road and the easiest way to reach U.S. Highway 71 without driving north to Kingsland Road. Talk of a new bridge came up after a flood forced dam repairs.
In its Oct. 19, 1983, issue, The Weekly Vista reported that a young woman died after losing control of her car on the icy dam and driving into the lake. At the time, there were no guardrails.
The Sept. 16, 1992, issue of The Vista reported that, after construction was initially expected to begin on a bridge across Little Sugar Creek, two died when a car went through a guard rail and into Lake Bella Vista. Rutherford expressed his frustration with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, which was handling the bridge project and falling behind.
Construction was initially set to begin in June 1992, according to The Vista article, but an effort to change the bridge’s design for better pedestrian accommodations, coupled with a state still dealing with the consequences of 1990s floods, meant the bridge’s construction was delayed.
On Sept. 18, 1992, The Benton County Daily Record reported that concrete barriers were installed and the dam was now open only to single direction traffic, meaning someone wishing to cross the dam had to stop and wait for anyone coming the opposite direction.
Another delay came in the form of a different location being considered. Planners flirted with the idea of putting an offshoot from Lambeth Drive for the bridge to connect to, which would graze the space Allen’s Food Market sits on now, and connect to Oldham Drive on the other side of the interstate.
In its June 22, 1994, issue, in the annual special section “Bella Vista Proud,” The Vista printed an article explaining the dirt work had begun and the bridge was expected to open mid1995.
Xyta Lucas, docent at the Bella Vista Historical Museum, said she moved to Bella Vista in 1995 — but the bridge wasn’t open. She worked in Rogers, she said, and her commuting options were waiting for a gap to slip across the dam or burning more gas — and time — to head up to Kingsland Road.
“We were told it started in ’94,” she said. “We moved here in ’95 and it opened in ’98.”
In July 1994, The Vista reported that rock removal was delaying the bridge’s construction, meaning workers had to drill holes into rocks to blast them to manageable bits and pieces. The estimated price tag was now sitting at $2 million. In the Oct. 4, 1995, issue, The Vista reported that the blasting was launching rocks, which were damaging nearby buildings and parking lots.
In the June 25, 1997, issue, The Vista news editor and columnist Sally Carroll said the bridge was nearing completion and some of the damage — including harm done to Lambeth Road — was set to be repaired after the bridge’s completion.
In late November 1998, the ribbon was cut and the bridge opened.
Lucas said she was out of town the week of the ribbon cutting. After coming back, she started her usual commute to work, during which she saw a now-open bridge to her right.
“I came down Lambeth and turned right,” she said. “It was easier in that I didn’t have to wait for oncoming traffic.”
There wasn’t a traffic light right away, she said, though it was easier to make a left turn onto U.S. Highway 71 then than it is today.
The traffic signal was approved in 1999 and added in 2000. According to the April 26, 2000, issue of The Vista, the light was dedicated April 17, 2000.
With that addition, the intersection remained largely unchanged until a few months ago, when a northbound left-turn lane was added.
During its Sept. 25 regular meeting, the Bella Vista City Council agreed to what could lead to the next major change for the strip of road currently named Mercy Way: starting preliminary engineering for a project to widen the bridge to four lanes and add pedestrian accommodations.