Intersection to shut for waterline work
Bryant officials will close the intersection at the Interstate 30 service road and Millbrook Drive this week.
The closure will take place today and Thursday as city crews install a new waterline in the intersection, city officials said.
Alert system option for Benton residents
Benton residents can now sign up for CodeRED, an emergency notification system.
The system allows any registered resident to receive phone calls, text messages and emails for alerts of events, including natural disasters, street closures and boil orders.
Residents can sign up for the service on the city’s website, www.benton.ar.gov.
Benton Mayor David Mattingly said the service will not cost the city any extra money, as the city will “piggyback” on Saline County’s system instead of having a stand-alone system.
Cities OK utilities’ move for road work
Both Benton and Bryant city officials OK’d resolutions last week to enter into agreements with Benton’s utility company to relocate those services for the Alcoa Road project.
The two cities, along with Saline County, have been planning for the last decade to widen a 2-mile stretch of Alcoa Road from Interstate 30 to Benton Parkway. The project will add a lane in each direction, along with a bicycle lane and two roundabouts. The entire project is estimated to cost $13 million, 80 percent of which will be refunded by federal funds. Benton, Bryant and the county will foot the remainder of the bill, with Benton paying the biggest share because of the amount of land within that city’s limits.
Only city utilities can be reimbursed with the federal funds, and Benton Mayor David Mattingly said most of the private utility companies — including CenterPoint Energy and First Electric Cooperatives — have moved their utilities.
Benton is set to pay about $340,000 for the relocation, and Bryant is set to pay up to $50,000. Those costs are what each city is set to carry after the federal reimbursements.
$1.5 million to pay for streets near park
Benton city officials appropriated some $1.5 million to develop three streets near what will be the Riverside park complex.
The money will help pay for street projects on Fairfield, Jackman, Airlane and Citizens Drive, according to the passed ordinance. The ordinance allows Mayor David Mattingly to move forward with the engineering work to bid out the projects.
The street projects go in line with the city’s plan to build a new park complex, called Riverside Park. The park complex will include a new Boys and Girls Club, a senior adult center, an aquatics center, a softball complex and soccer fields.
Voters in November approved a half-percentage point sales-tax increase to pay for about $37 million in bonds. The tax will fund the new construction, along with improvements to Holland Park.