Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Panel weighs proposal to connect street
Fayetteville residents express concerns about traffic, safety
FAYETTEVILLE — A City Council committee is trying to figure out whether a proposed street connection on the northeast side of town would be worth the money relative to the impact it would have on residents.
Connecting Stearns Street to Vantage Drive has been on the city’s street plan since at least the late 1990s. The street runs east-west between Zion Road to the north and Joyce Boulevard to the south.
The eastern section of Stearns Street connecting to Old Missouri Road was built in the 1980s as part of the Brookhollow Subdivision. The western section connecting to Vantage Drive was built in 2018 as part of the Vantage Office Park. About 260 feet of right of way separates the two segments.
The council’s Transportation Committee discussed the proposed connection Tuesday. The city collected $20,853 in assessment fees from the office park’s owners to put toward constructing the connection. The city must spend the money within seven years or return it. The fees were collected at different times beginning in 2019, meaning the city has until 2026 to start using the money.
The estimated cost to build the connection is $200,000 to $400,000, depending on how much moving utilities will cost, said Chris Brown, the city’s public works director. Money could come from the transportation bond program voters approved in 2019, the city’s capital fund or a new bond issue in the future, he said.
The city held a public input session in July and posted an online survey to get residents’ feedback about the proposed connection. Results were polarized. Most who live in the area were highly opposed, though many said they would support a sidewalk or trail only. Those who live farther away in the city said they highly supported the street connection.
City staff want to know whether the council wants
to keep the connection on the street plan, and if so, how much of a priority it should be among other projects, Brown said.
The council could decide to keep the connection on the plan, but only move forward with design and construction once money becomes available. Or, it could decide to make the connection a higher priority than other projects on the city’s list and get to construction sooner than later. Or it could opt for a sidewalk or trail only. Or the city could build a sidewalk now and a street later. Or the entire connection could be taken off the street plan altogether with no construction at all.
Building the connection would most likely benefit residents and businesses in the immediate area the most, especially people trying to go west, Brown said. For now, residents on the eastern segment of Stearns Street must go to Old Missouri Road and choose either Joyce Boulevard or Zion Road to go west.
“It’s certainly not a connection that doesn’t have value,” Brown said.
About a dozen residents attended the committee’s meeting Tuesday to express their opposition to the project. Many came from the Bellafont Gardens subdivision, which lies within a loop northwest of Stearns Street. The homes in the subdivision don’t touch either segment of Stearns Street, but the property owners association has a shed with lawn equipment and a fence lying within the right of way. Property owners associations using city right of way is a common occurrence, Brown said.
Residents had concerns with the increased amount of car traffic through Stearns Street, resulting in potential safety hazards for children and pedestrians or bicyclists. They also questioned the need for the connection and whether it would be worth spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Karen Woodward said she and her husband moved to Bellafont Gardens two years ago and like to walk their dogs and bicycle in the area. She said she felt creating the connection for cars would endanger people using sidewalks.
“The ones who vote for this are voting for not only a costly project, but putting cyclists’, runners’ and bikers’ lives on the line,” Woodward said. “It’s not supporting the mobility plan for the city.”
Committee members asked for more information about trees that would need to be cut down, a cost analysis for building a street connection versus a sidewalk or trail only and where the money would come from.
Council member Sarah Bunch, committee chairwoman and a representative of the part of town where Stearns Street lies, said she usually supports making street connections. However, she said the cost could be too high with little relative benefit to residents.
“If you build a connection, there will be people using this connection. It probably will not just be people in this neighborhood,” Bunch said. “But when I look at the area, I think it’s a little bit dubious about whether it would benefit that many people or not. That’s my concern. It might be better suited for a sidewalk or a trail.”
The committee is tentatively scheduled to discuss the issue again Oct. 31.
The committee is tentatively scheduled to discuss the issue again Oct. 31.