Lawrence County officials have confirmed that the county has been approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration for a grant of $885,000 to be used for roadway improvements along County Road 210 near Black Rock.
The grant, to be matched with $550,000 in local investment, will help create or retain 35 jobs, according to the Economic Development Administration.
"Providing the roadway infrastructure that the Lawrence County business community needs to withstand future flooding events will help ensure that commerce can keep flowing and workers can keep working," John Fleming, U.S. assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, said in a statement Monday.
John Thomison, county judge of Lawrence County, said that a portion of County Road 210 is prone to flooding. He said the project will help make the road more resilient to future weather events by elevating the roadway, widening culverts, and paving the surface to mitigate floodwaters and heavy rainfall.
"It has a spot in it that does back up as a kind of a relief section that will be built up," Thomison said. "One of the things we looked at when the government was asking about it is that it is kind of a loop from Black Rock to U.S. 63 where at other times when the Black River does get out in that section, people can get out that way and we can move things through there."
The federal grant was funded under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, in which Congress appropriated $600 million in economic assistance funds for disaster relief and recovery in 2017.
That year, Gov. Asa Hutchinson declared a state of emergency after the northeast corner of the state reported record spring rains that led to a deadly flooding after a levee failed on the Black River.
"The improvements will create an alternate route for current industry, potential industry, emergency responders and citizens that have been unable to use the main highways during past flooding events," said Melissa Rivers, executive director of the East Arkansas Planning and Development Commission.
According to the commission's plans, the money will improve the road from U.S. 412 to County Road 205. About $300,000 in matching funds came from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and $250,000 from the Delta Regional Authority.
On Monday, Commerce Department spokesman John Atwood said the Black Rock project will also help "silica processing and rock crusher companies that use the road daily."
In the town, companies mine rock or further process it for other industries, such as oil and gas. One of the biggest is American Silica LLC, a producer of sand used for hydraulic fracturing. Its 200-acre facility is located off of County Road 210. Martin Marietta and Vulcan Materials are also nearby.
State Desk on 09/24/2019