BENTONVILLE -- Some utility relocation in the Eighth Street Improvement Project should start in September, according to Mike Bender, public works director.
The city will receive bids for the relocation of water and sewer July 21, Bender said.
Project details
The extension of Southeast Eighth Street east of Moberly Lane to the Interstate 49 and the new interchange is a project of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
The widening of Southeast Eighth Street west of Moberly Lane to Southwest I Street is a project of Bentonville, though the state department will have some oversight as it involves federal money.
Source: Staff report
The City Council approved the agreement for water and sewer relocation with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department at its June 28 meeting.
The estimated cost of the relocations is $6.2 million, part of which can be reimbursed by the Federal Highway Administration, according to city documents. The city is responsible for $2.4 million.
Water and sewer relocation will start at the east and west ends of the project, Bender said. It is scheduled to take 14 months to complete.
The Eighth Street Improvement Project was announced in 2005. It runs along South Eighth Street from Interstate 49 west to Southwest I Street. It includes building a new interchange at I-49 and widening Eighth Street to five lanes from the interstate to Moberly Lane, according to the city's website. It also includes widening the road to four lanes with a raised median between Moberly Lane and Southwest I Street.
The project's cost is estimated at $70 million. It will be paid for with federal, state, city and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. money.
All utilities -- electric, fiber optic, etc. -- were given the 14-month time frame to relocate, said Mike Churchwell, transportation director.
"The hardest part is utility relocation," Mayor Bob McCaslin said. "Next to the hardest part is right-of-way acquisition."
The city acquired the majority of the 84 tracts associated with the project. About a half dozen will be obtained through litigation, Churchwell said.
McCaslin said litigation is often used in projects that require land or right of way acquisition.
"Typically, we say it's two out of every 10," he said.
Utility relocation can start before land acquisition is finalized, McCaslin said.
"That process allows the project to continue toward its goal of completion, knowing that there is a process set up for the courts to treat it in a fair and equitable manner for both parties," he said.
The road construction will go out to bid possibility around this time next year, Bender and Churchwell said. It likely will take two years to complete.
"It's going to take a lot of patience from everyone," Churchwell said. "The construction work is going to be very invasive."
The project should be done within four to five years, "if all goes smoothly," said Churchwell, who has been working on the project for 11 years.
Wal-Mart is preparing to replace parking lot spaces at the David Glass Technology Center that will be lost in the street project as the city prepares for utility relocation.
Eighth Street now dead ends into Southeast Moberly Lane just north of the Technology Center. The extension of Eighth Street to I-49 will be will be five lanes wide and built between the two main parking lots.
The Planning Commission approved plans for Wal-Mart to build a parking lot extension between the Technology Center's current north lot and Southeast Fifth Street.
The project will replace the 435 parking spaces lost in the Eighth Street Improvement Project, according to the planner's staff report.
No new curb cuts are in the design, and all access points are on Southeast Moberly Lane. There will also be 153 new trees planted, and several large trees will be preserved.
NW News on 07/11/2016