LR to revisit Chenal rule

— Seventeen years after saying Little Rock wouldn’t widen Chenal Parkway, the only remaining city director from that time period said she wants to repeal the resolution in case projects come up next month during discussions with residents about how to spend new sales-tax revenue.

“I’m just too afraid we’d get started on a project and someone would bring it up,” said At-Large City Director Joan Adcock, who in 1994 voted in favor of the resolution that made it clear Little Rock would not pay for any expansion or widening of Chenal Parkway unless property owners donated land and shared the cost.

Adcock said the resolution was presented during a time when residents were concerned the city would spend new sales-tax revenue from its “Future Little Rock” effort on the roadway in the growing western part of the city.

“We just wanted to put a stop on all that speculation on what we were going to do with all that money,” Adcock said.

The resolution also committed the city to keeping the parkway, which starts at Autumn Road and curves west to Arkansas 10, as a four-lane road. The master street plan at the time suggested making the roadway a six-lane road with bigger rights of way, something developers didn’t want.

City officials insist there’s no plan in the works now to expand the road, which for the most part is still four lanes. A section that remains two lanes farther west will one day be widened to four lanes when traffic increases, but the cost will be borne by the developer.

Developers are already responsible for widening roadways and putting in improvements when they develop along side roads. However, the city did partner with the Chenal Parkway Property Owners Improvement District in 1988 to build what is Chenal Parkway today.

The city contributed $1.2 million toward the $8.3 million project cost, according to past Arkansas Democrat articles, to pay for the roadway between Autumn and Bowman roads. The construction project linked Interstate 630 to what was then Rock Creek Parkway and eventually to Arkansas 10.

In years since then, developers have paid for improvements along the roadway, such as the turn lanes near the Kroger at Chenal Parkway and Kanis Road and a stop light at the Wal-Mart at Highway 10 and Chenal Parkway. City employees didn’t have a figure Monday for the total amount of money spent on improvements to Chenal.

The May 3, 1994, resolution says its intent is “to assure that the citizens of Little Rock will not have to involuntarily pay for any expansion or widening of the Chenal Parkway; and for other purposes.”

City directors at the time said if a bond-issue election came up, the project would have to be named specifically so voters had the opportunity to approve spending money on the roadway.

Little Rock directors will discuss the proposed repeal tonight during a reconvened meeting where they also will vote on the 2012 budget. The proposed $158.6 million budget is an 18 percent increase over 2011’s spending plan, a reflection of a 1 percentagepoint sales tax increase that voters approved in September.

The new sales tax revenue will help pay for increased operations, such as filling vacant police-officer positions. The portion of sales tax paying for capital projects, such as $72 million worth of road and drainage improvements, won’t be defined in a budget until at least next month. City officials plan to hold public meetings in each ward to discuss what projects they want funded. Dates for those public meetings haven’t been set yet.

“In the sales tax, we said we would treat everyone fairly,” Adcock said. “Their roads wear out just like other roads do.”

Ward 5 Director Lance Hines, who represents neighborhoods surrounding Chenal Parkway, also thinks the resolution needs to go.

“That resolution has kind of taken on mythic proportions in some circles and has been used to not spend any money in west Little Rock. Most people don’t even know what the resolutions says,” Hines said.

Repealing the resolution “kind of levels the playing field,” he said.

Both city directors said they aren’t aware of a need to widen the roadway that winds through shopping districts and by gated communities.

“Just because the resolution is repealed, it doesn’t mean there are projects that have been decided on,” said City Manager Bruce Moore, who also supports the repeal.

The city’s traffic engineer said the roadway hasn’t been assessed in a while, although the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department traffic counts show 35,000 vehicles travel along the busier parts of Chenal Parkway near Bowman Road. It tapers down to 20,000 farther west.

If city directors are amenable to the repeal, the issue should be on next Tuesday’s agenda for a vote.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/13/2011

Upcoming Events