ROGERS -- About $60 million of street improvement projects paid for by the Rogers' 2011 bond issue will take place during 2015, city officials said.
"2015 is a significant year because a majority of design and engineering work has been completed on these projects," Mayor Greg Hines said Friday. "Now we can start construction."
At A Glance
Rogers Road Projects
Pinnacle Hills Parkway will be extended from Pauline Whitaker Parkway to Pleasant Grove Road. The project will start by spring and be completed this summer.
The 1-mile stretch of Price Lane will be widened to three lanes from Eighth Street to Dixieland Road. Traffic lights also will be added at Price Lane and Dixieland Road. The project will start this month and be completed this fall. Monte Ne Road will be widened to four lanes from Gum Street to New Hope Road. The project has started and will be completed by summer. Monte Ne Road will be moved and widened to four lanes between Oak and Gum streets. The project will start at the end of 2015 and be completed by the end of 2016. • First Street will be widened to five lines between Olrich Street and Veterans Park. The project will start in February and be completed during spring 2016. • Perry Road will be widened to four lanes between Bellview Road and 21st Street. The project will start this summer and be completed during summer 2016. • Southgate Road will be extended from Rainbow Road to Arkansas 112. The project will start this spring and end during summer 2016.
• Pleasant Grove Road will be widened to four-lanes between Bellview Road and Champions Boulevard. The project will start this summer and end in fall 2016.
• Bellview Road will be widened to four lanes Interstate 49 and Pleasant Grove Road. The project will start in spring and be completed during summer 2016. • Bellview Road will be widened to four lanes between Pleasant Grove Road to the city limit. The project will start during fall 2015 and be completed during spring 2017.
Voters approved extending a 2 percent sales tax to support the bonds in September 2011, according to city documents.
The 2011 bond issue will generate $135.4 million and the city plans to spend $102 million on street improvement. Other money will be used for parks and recreation and police and fire needs.
Eleven projects paid for by the bond issue will either create or expand roads in the city this year, officials said.
"I am excited that we are going to be throwing out barrels and widening streets that needed to be widened for years," Hines said. "It will certainly help move traffic and spur further development."
Nathan Becknell, Rogers planning engineer, said many of the projects were identified in a 2005 traffic study as areas that need or will need relief. The study was completed by Peters & Associates Engineering.
The region west of Interstate-49 was one area identified in the study, Becknell said. The study showed better roads were needed to connect growing residential areas to business districts, he said.
"The city is about to widen many major routes as a result of the growth," Becknell said. "This includes Pleasant Grove Road, Bellview Road, Southgate [Road] and Pinnacle Hills Parkway."
Pleasant Grove Road and Bellview Road will both be widened to four lanes. Five-lane Pinnacle Hills Parkway and two-lane Southgate Road both will be extended.
Hines said motorists can see the population growth in that area when waiting in rush-hour traffic in the morning.
"There has been a high density of residential development that has occurred," Hines said. "Those folks are ready for some relief and they deserve that relief."
A project to widen First Street to five lanes between Olrich Street and Veterans Park is also important, Hines said. Another portion of First Street was previously widened.
"It is important because it continues that gateway into downtown," Hines said.
John McLarty, Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission assistant director, said growth like Rogers has had puts pressure on road infrastructure.
Rogers' population was 24,692 in 1990, according to the U.S. Census, McLarty said. It grew to 38,829 in 2000 and was 55,964 in the most recent 2010 census.
"Typically the more people you have, the more cars, and you need more transportation infrastructure," McLarty said. "You need the infrastructure to keep people moving around."
The commission also has projected the population in Rogers will continue to grow, McLarty said. He said forecasts show 71,600 people by 2020 and 87,236 by 2030.
Rogers is able to improve infrastructure because of the city's 2 percent sales tax, Hines said.
"Historically dating back to the 1980s the citizens of Rogers have continually approved the sales tax in Rogers," Hines said.
The bond issue was supported by about 70 percent of voters in 2011, Hines said.
The tax sunsets once the bonds are paid off, Hines said. City officials project that will happen during 2021.
"There is no community in America that is ahead on road infrastructure improvements but when you look at the city of Rogers, it is really cool to see how many roads we do have in place," Hines said. "I feel pretty confident we are as ahead of the game as any community."
NW News on 01/18/2015