SPRINGDALE -- Construction of a long-sought northern bypass of the city will put a four-lane divided roadway close to Shaw Elementary School, a school district administrator reported Tuesday.
The district learned the center median of the highway will sit 165 feet from campus's property line on the north and 255 feet from north end of the school building, said Gary Compton, assistant superintendent for support services, during the School Board's meeting Tuesday.
Compton discussed the impact of the U.S. 412 bypass on Shaw, along with an update of district construction projects. Shaw is in the northwest part of the School District and sits to the west of Interstate 49.
"They are ready to take their 412 bypass this way," Compton said
The distance from the median to the school building is less than the length of a football field, Compton said. Plans for the new road include a bridge to carry traffic from Grimsley Road, which runs north and south in front of the school, over the new roadway.
The road will not have an on or off ramp where the new highway crosses Grimsley, Compton said. District administrators are discussing the potential impacts of the project to the school, including issues related to safety and how much sound will come off the highway.
"That school's been sitting there eight years," Superintendent Jim Rollins told the board.
Rollins said district officials provided information and expressed concern to state highway officials about the route's proximity to the school, but the route remained unchanged.
The district will continue to meet with state highway officials to determine how the new road will impact Shaw, Rollins said.
"We're going to be very interested in making sure our children are protected," he said.
Compton said he hopes highway officials will consider adding tree lines, fencing or sound barriers to enhance the safety of the site and to control the sound of what will be a highly traveled road.
Board Vice President Jeff Williams said asking the Highway Department to include sound barriers in the plans or to build a berm with trees and plants to absorb the sound seemed like a reasonable request.
The project to build 4.57 miles of road is expected to begin this spring and is estimated to take more than four years to complete, said Steve Lawrence, district engineer for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department's District 9 office in Harrison. The project will carry traffic from Interstate 49 to Arkansas 112, where interchanges will be built.
The Highway Commission awarded a $100.6 million construction contract in December to Eutaw Construction in Aberdeen, Miss.
The project is the first part of a long-term plan to build a new alignment of U.S. 412 that is intended to ease east-west traffic through Springdale.
The link from Interstate 49 to Arkansas 112 is the only section of the planned route with funding, Lawrence said.
District officials are working with Jack See of WD&D Architects on plans for an elementary school the district plans to open in 2016.
The district is evaluating a 25 acres south of J.O. Kelly Middle School for the new campus, Compton said. The site would accommodate a district pre-kindergarten center.
But engineers have found a significant amount of rock at depths of four feet and six feet at that site, an issue that would add to the construction cost of the school, Compton said.
The district is working with the construction manager to determine the costs of the project, Compton said.
Rollins said the district has ample time to evaluate options as it waits to find out how much state money will be available for the project. The amount is contingent on legislative approval.
The district will find out about state money for the project May 1, Rollins said.
A potential alternative site exists at district-owned land near Arkansas 265 and Dodd Road, close to Bayyari Elementary School, Compton said.
NW News on 02/11/2015