Preparations for Hillsboro project ongoing

Highway 82 widening nearly complete

Work is ongoing to prepare for an Arkansas Department of Transportation project that will transform Hillsboro Street in El Dorado.

The project calls for a widening of the highway; two roundabouts at College and West avenues; a new viaduct to be built just north of the existing Hillsboro viaduct; a new bridge between Park and Rock Island Right-Of-Way; and landscaped medians.

Once the changes are complete, the city will adopt and maintain the road. The project was estimated in 2020 to cost $80 million, approximately $3.5 million of which was to be paid by the City of El Dorado, according to previous News-Times reporting.

Work on the greater Highway 82 widening project - which is separate from the upcoming Hillsboro project - is currently ongoing just outside of the city. That project’s main aim was to widen around six miles of Highway 82 to four lanes, extending generally from Airport Drive to Highway 82B in El Dorado, according to ARDOT.

ARDOT district engineer David Archer said that the greater widening project is nearing completion.

“We are currently working on the concrete sidewalk and driveway work and should be laying the final surface of asphalt in the next couple of months. We anticipate this project being completed by the end of [s]pring,” Archer wrote in an email to the News-Times.

As for the intercity Hillsboro project — preparations are underway, including utility relocation.

“One of the many utility contractors has begun work. Several other utility contracts are in various stages of being awarded. All the utility relocation work is not expected to be complete until late 2024,” Archer said.

He continued with more information about expectations for construction.

“The roadway contract is not ex

pected to begin until sometime next year, dependent upon the completion of the utility relocation work. It will probably take approximately 2 years to complete the roadway work once it begins,” Archer said.

This substantial construction set to take place will pose challenges to anyone who travels regularly within El Dorado. Hillsboro Street will stay open but will be an active construction zone during the work.

“Traffic will be maintained on Hillsboro Street during construction. We would advise avoiding the construction areas when the project does begin. Other than that, drive slow and pay attention to the road because there will be lots of orange traffic drums and flaggers and equipment and workers. More specific details will be available once the contractor begins work,” Archer said.

Area first responders are also expecting to face challenges from the work and are planning accordingly.

El Dorado Fire Department Chief Chad Mosby said department leaders have been in discussions for how to work around the construction when responding to emergencies around the city.

“We’re looking at things, operationally, as far as having access across town, making sure we’ll have units available and get resources where we need to,” Mosby said, adding that this is standard practice when important thoroughfares such as Main Street are expected to be blocked.

Hillsboro Street is “vitally” important to emergency response, Mosby continued, and parts of the project - particularly the viaduct work - will likely have a substantial impact on traffic patterns in the city.

During a community meeting for Ward 3 residents last week, El Dorado City Council member Willie McGhee raised the point that Ward 3 residents are sometimes blocked from traveling across town due to train crossings. This issue could be further exacerbated as residents look to detour around Hillsboro Street due to construction.

“[The viaduct work] is going to be problematic for us. The hope is that we don’t have situations where other avenues across the tracks will be blocked at the same time,” Mosby said.

“Downtown, where the railyard is, several rail lines converge there. Knowing that most of those railroads don’t run on a regular schedule poses a problem… We never know when the trains are going to be moving and just being able to adjust quickly to conditions [is] important with us,” he continued, adding that planning for these scenarios is a big part of the conversation currently going on among EFD leaders.

Mosby advised that local residents have the upcoming construction in mind and plan accordingly when the time comes.

“Our citizens do need to prepare for this to come. Any time a major thoroughfare is constructed, it’s going to cause delays and problems and alternate routes across town will be important,” Mosby said.