BENTONVILLE -- Seeking help in replacing the outdated and overloaded Wagon Wheel Road Bridge, Benton County's justice of the peace on Thursday authorized the county to apply for federal transportation grant money.
The Quorum Court unanimously approved County Judge Barry Moehring to apply for Federal-aid Surface Transportation Program grant money to do the engineering work on the project. The grant is awarded on an 80-20 matching basis, with the county's share being 20 percent, and is administered by the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.
If the money is awarded, Moehring said, the engineering work could be done this year and construction on the $1 million project done in 2018.
Jay Frasier, public services administrator and head of the Road Department, said the bridge was built in 1975 but growth in the area has overwhelmed the one-lane structure. Frasier said a traffic count in February showed nearly 1,000 vehicle a day on the bridge. Frasier said the route is now one of the most heavily travelled roads in the county.
"The traffic has overcome the capacity," Frasier said. "It's not functionally obsolete. It just no longer fits the capacity of the traffic that uses it."
The justices of the peace were also briefed on plans to revive the motorcycle division of the Benton County Sheriff's Office. Capt. Kenneth Paul, administrative captain with the Sheriff's Office, said the Sheriff's Office plans to lease a pair of motorcycles for training purposes and then buy motorcycles to use in day-to-day operations. Paul said the motorcycle division has a long history in the department but was disbanded by former Sheriff Kelley Cradduck and the motorcycles used in trade to obtain another vehicle for the Sheriff's Office.
"We had the motor division in the past and they've been very useful," Paul said.
Paul said the Sheriff's Office is working on a lease for two motorcycles with a guaranteed buy-back provision so the county will have new motorcycles for training every two years. Leasing the motorcycles for two years would cost the county $29,395 while buying two motorcycles outright would cost $48,258.
Paul said motorcycles used in the field may last for five or six years, depending on how hard they are used. The initial lease will be paid for with money already in the Sheriff's Office budget for 2017. Paul said the Sheriff's Office will ask for money to buy additional motorcycles as a capital purchase in the 2018 budget. He said his goal is to build up to a fleet of at least six motorcycles, with the two being leased reserved for training.
NW News on 06/23/2017