BELLA VISTA -- The City Council unanimously approved seeking federal money for a traffic light at the intersection of Bella Vista Way and Kingsland Road during a special meeting Tuesday.
With state approval for a traffic signal at the intersection, the council voted to apply for federal money and agreed to consider other potential funding options.
Mayor Peter Christie said the intersection would benefit from a traffic signal because it has been dangerous with limited visibility of the southbound lane and fast-moving traffic. There have been three fatalities from accidents in three years, he said, with two of them in a single collision.
The grant would require the city to provide $40,000 to match $160,000 in federal money, totaling $200,000 for preliminary engineering and environmental clearance.
That money, he said, would be for 2019, meaning it would need to be budgeted for next year.
"Construction might begin [in] 2020 or 2021," Christie said. "That's quite a ways out."
The other option, he said, would be for the city to pay for the project. This would cost more, he said, estimating between $600,000 and $1 million for the entire project, but it would get the work started sooner.
"So my personal struggle," Christie said, "is if we wait the next three years... what's the value of a life? How many more might be killed?"
If the city pays for the work, he said, taking a bond may be an option to spare the cash reserve.
Chris Suneson, director of the community development services department, said the council's approval allows the city to apply for the grant but doesn't require it to accept it. After applying, he said, officials expect to hear back in June, meaning there is time to consider and examine other options.
Sooner is better, he said, but the city has a responsibility to handle public money carefully.
Constructing without waiting on federal aid, he said, could save roughly one year. Suneson estimated the time from when an engineering contract is awarded to project completion could be roughly six months.
General News on 01/17/2018