Initial work is underway on a Counts Massie Road extension in Maumelle that is to someday lead to a planned interchange at Interstate 40, something that has been talked about for the past 20 years.
The two separate projects are tied to the same goal of alleviating some of the growing traffic congestion on Maumelle Boulevard -- the only road into or out of the Little Rock suburb. T̶h̶e̶ ̶C̶o̶u̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶M̶a̶s̶s̶i̶e̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶e̶n̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶e̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶e̶n̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶i̶g̶n̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶g̶e̶.̶*
Clearing of trees at the end of Counts Massie Road began June 27, Mayor Mike Watson told city aldermen last week in a special City Council meeting held to get updates on the projects. The estimated completion date for the extension to reach Short Marche Road is next July, weather permitting, Watson told the council.
The project's contract allows for 730 days, or 2 years, Watson said in an interview later last week, but he added that contractors have said the work will only "take a little over a year to complete."
The interchange then could be completed by late 2020, if funding is available, Watson said. A "stub" would connect the Counts Massie extension to I-40. If done by 2020, that would be 15 years after the U.S. House first approved a federal highway bill for a "third entrance" into Maumelle over a five-year period. City officials began talking about a third entrance in 1996.
At the time, city officials said they expected the project to take at least 10 years to complete.
Movement on what will now be a full I-40 interchange to directly connect to Maumelle Boulevard, also Arkansas 100, has been exasperatingly slow for city officials and residents who get caught in standstill traffic during morning and afternoon peak times on the boulevard.
In a January memorandum to the City Council, Watson wrote that he was "extremely frustrated" at the pace of the interchange project.
"It's not going as fast as I'd like," Watson said last week. Also, having to go through the White Oak Bayou wetlands -- which includes clearing trees -- as well as time to acquire right of way "has slowed down Counts Massie."
Funding and other obstacles remain for the future interchange. The estimated cost for the interchange was $11.5 million in 2014, a figure that Watson said is probably more like $12 million to $13 million now.
With less federal transportation money available for such projects, the city will need to pay a larger matching share of the cost than it would if the project were already underway. Also, getting North Little Rock, Pulaski County and private landowners to pitch in would reduce the city's cost.
"This will be beneficial to North Little Rock, because it has residents" in that area, Watson said of asking others to share in the cost. A portion of Counts Massie is in North Little Rock. "The county would benefit. There's a benefit [from the interchange] other than to us in Maumelle."
Maumelle residents voted in October 2012 to extend a 6.6-mill property tax rate to support a $15.54 million bond package that included $9.83 million to resurface and widen Counts Massie Road within Maumelle.
The Counts Massie bond issue included money for only the extension, not funds for the proposed interchange. Another bond issue to help pay for the interchange "isn't out of the question," Watson said.
The city has $4 million in street fund reserves that it could use for the project and $5.3 million in its general fund reserves, Watson said. How much will be needed to cover the city's cost of the interchange project won't be known until an interchange design is done and the possible cost shares with others are decided.
Alderman Steve Mosley, who requested the City Council update, said in an interview that he isn't sure Maumelle voters would pass another bond issue because there have been so many project delays.
"I know that's another good reason to preserve those reserves," Mosley said. "As far as I'm concerned, we need to do everything possible not to raise taxes."
Property on both sides of the proposed interchange, the site of a former highway rest stop, is owned by Interchange LLC, a private entity controlled by James Freeman, Watson said.
Also, because of Maumelle's ragged border with North Little Rock, there is a 1,320-foot section of the Counts Massie Road extension that will extend into North Little Rock which that citywould have to fund.
"It's not on my radar right now," North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith said Thursday about his city's part in the Counts Massie Road extension. "Right now, it is a road to nowhere."
Smith added, though, that he is "prepared to do our part to make things better for all of our residents and all Maumelle residents" concerning the new road.
"But, until that interchange is put in, it's not going to help anybody," Smith said of the extension. "I might hold onto our money until that happens, and then the City Council will make a decision."
Mosley said Watson will need to "go around and hold out his hat and see what we get" once the interchange's cost is known.
"If there's a shortfall, we'll have to figure how to deal with that," Mosley said. "Right now, those options are just talk about what we might have to do in the future."
Mosley's biggest concern for now, he said, is having more traffic on Maumelle Boulevard because of what he called the "three-year gap" between the planned completion of the Counts Massie Road extension in 2017 and the interchange's earliest completion in 2020.
"We might explore a freeze on high-density housing," Mosley said, meaning apartment complexes, some of which are in North Little Rock along Maumelle's borders. "I would be for that. I don't know if we could get them [North Little Rock officials] to work with that. We can't control them. But a lot of that morning commute problem is caused by those in the high-density housing area."
Metro on 07/04/2016
*CORRECTION: Construction for an extension of Counts Massie Road in Maumelle doesn’t need to be completed prior to design work for a planned connecting interchange at Interstate 40. This article misstated the timeline for the start of design process.