LITTLE ROCK — The final updates to a project to widen Cantrell Road were on display Thursday at a meeting hosted by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, but not all area business owners were satisfied with what they saw.
A four-lane stretch of Cantrell is slated to be widened between Perryville Road and Mississippi Street to add a center turn lane. Highway officials say the heavily traveled stretch of roadway suffers from heavy congestion and numerous rear-end wrecks because it lacks a dedicated turn space.
But the corridor is dotted with businesses - and some residences - that closely hug the roadway, making finding space for the new lane difficult.
David Nilles, a spokesman for the highway department who attended the public meeting Thursday at First Christian Church, said the project is about 95 percent designed with only minor changes anticipated. The meeting gave business owners and residents a chance to see how the one-and-a-half year project will proceed once it starts in 2013.
Some were less than pleased.
Lawrie Rash, who owns Ken Rash's Casual Furniture on Cantrell east of Mississippi, was hoping officials could find a way to widen the road without cutting off her parking lot. Highway employees told her they looked at every possibility, but couldn't find a feasible one. The furniture store will likely have to move.
"A turning lane is necessary," said Rash, whose store and warehouse have been there for 20 years. "But I feel like they could figure out something not to close businesses. I mean if the businesses aren't there, there's not really a reason to have a turn lane to begin with."
A few blocks east, Damgoode Pies will have to forfeit four of its parking spaces by its front entrance. Owner Chuck Wesley said that may not sound like a lot, but it represents 15 percent of his lot and will almost certainly translate into lost revenue.
"I think the project is needed," he said. "It's just I've got 77 employees I need to keep in work and if this affects my ability to draw customers, then that concerns me."
Wesley said his fears were largely allayed during Thursday's meeting when highway officials assured him they would schedule a one-on-one meeting to discuss compensation for the lost spaces. He said he would investigate whether additional spaces could be added in the rear of the pizzeria.
Willis Smith, who owns Best Car Wash in The Heights at 7011 Cantrell Road, said he has dual concerns with the plans he saw. For one thing, his lot is already tight and he's not convinced his lost land will leave him enough space to continue business.
But even if he can keep the car wash open, the work itself will create such a backup that business will suffer greatly during it.
Nilles said crews won't work during rush hour and other steps will be taken to keep traffic flowing. But Smith said he expects the worst.
"It's going to be a mess, I tell you," he said.
Rash spent much of the meeting looking at the design plans and talking with a highway department official, who said she "agonized" over the work but ultimately couldn't find a way to save the business.
Rash said she might pursue other avenues, but that it looked like a "98 percent" chance the store will have to relocate.
"It just seems like there's a lot of pass the buck," she said. "It is very frustrating."