It will cost an estimated $9.8 million to upgrade Arkansas Highway 256 from Interstate 530 to the Pine Bluff Arsenal's Plainview Gate, with the goal of turning the two-lane country road into one that can handle daily traffic from employee vehicles and heavy commercial and military trucks, according to officials.
The issue is funding.
Road upgrades and bridge building are expensive and the cash isn't easy to come by but White Hall is working on a plan.
Already, an in-depth study and preliminary cost analysis are about 90 percent complete.
The findings were presented Aug. 18 to city and county officials at a day-long program titled Pine Bluff Arsenal Compatible Uses Study Implementation Progress Review Meeting.
White Hall Mayor Noel Foster was behind the program that had its start about six years ago. A committee was formed with 26 members of local economic groups made up of White Hall, Pine Bluff and Jefferson County participants.
Membership included Larry Wright, president of LE Wright & Associates PLLC. He also serves as White Hall's consulting engineer and as the grant project manager on the project.
The conference was held at the White Hall Fire Station #2 at 5 Hospitality Drive, with about two dozen attending the meeting.
"I was pleased with the attendance of the local and state stakeholders," Wright said.
Last July, the Matrix Design Group LLC of Crofton, Md., was awarded a $500,000 Compatible Use Implementation grant from the Department of Defense Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (of Crystal City, Va.), with matching funds from the Governor's Military Affairs Grant Program, Wright said.
The money was used to complete the study and analysis, and also included a subcontract for access road design services by McClelland Engineers of Little Rock.
They looked at various aspects of improvements under consideration, and also included an access enhancement design of 256, and the development of new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping overlays of the area.
It also looked at possible road improvement costs.
Wright said, with this information, White Hall can begin developing a funding strategy.
THE PROPOSED PROJECT
Much of the meeting centered around the discussion of Highway 256, including costs and details of reworking about a two-mile stretch of roadway, from Interstate 530, exit 32, to the Arsenal.
From I-530 to a curve in the road near the White Hall School District Administration Building, it's known as Holland Road. After which, heading east, it becomes Hoadley Road.
The proposed road rehab includes both sections of road.
Holland Road would require an overlay of asphalt and Arkansas Department of Transportation has that work on its scheduled docket whether money is found for the larger project or not, according to Taylor Clark of McClelland Consulting Engineers Inc. of Little Rock.
His team did the road survey and geotechnical work late last year and spent the first eight months of this year working on the different design options.
Holland Road is a relatively easy fix, while Hoadley Road is more complicated and more expensive, Clark said.
The road has short shoulders, and it crosses Caney Bayou by way of the 80-year-old bridge, number 2280, and parts of Hoadley Road are prone to flooding.
THE BRIDGE
Rehabbing the old bridge is greater than the cost of building a new one, Wright said during the meeting. Later, he said, the bridge itself will cost about $1.5 million, not including installation.
Clark said, "The most difficult element will be the bridge itself. We can't fix its issues."
The bridge was built just before or in conjunction with the construction of the Arsenal, and at that time, it was an important access point. But bridges built during the World War II era fall short of modern weight and engineering standards.
Also, today's vehicles, both family and commercial, are heavier and taller, so the guard rails need to be raised to be in compliance with ARDOT standards, Clark said.
The proposed bridge design places a new 160-foot steel, hydraulic bridge to the southeast side of the existing one. It's 40 feet wide, with 2 1/2 lanes.
Clark said the new bridge was hydraulically designed with the Caney Bayou overflow in mind, adding, "Water does what it wants to do," so it was raised four feet.
At the bridge entrance and exit, a gentler curvature will help prevent traffic mishaps when traffic moves from the bridge back to the main road, Clark said.
The old bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and will have to be destroyed or moved because the support beams collect debris and cause further flooding. The logistics and new home will be determined later, Wright said.
REPAVING HOADLEY ROAD
The entire existing roadway elevation will be kept as much as the geometry allows, and as for the roadway itself, Clark said, "The goal was to minimize its footprint."
To meet this end, his team decided to use the existing roadbed but noticeably widening its shoulders to 8 feet on each side and creating a gentle slope as currently used by ARDOT. This allows drivers more opportunity to return to the roadway without incident after veering onto the shoulder, Wright said.
The road would be resurfaced, and the Hoadley Road rework will cost about an additional $3 million.
The project will also include a number of soft costs such as utility relocation, property rights-of-way purchases near the bridge site, its installation, money to help with the move of the old bridge and more.
The road rehab stops at the viaduct.
THE DETAILS
The endgame is to turn the PBA's Plainview Gate into a suitable commercial and employee vehicle entrance and exit location.
There are approximately 740 civil and military employees working on PBA property, with about 11,000 tons of shipments passing through the gates annually, said Cheryl Avery, Pine Bluff Arsenal spokesman.
Currently, the Dexter Gate entrance is the only one that can be used by commercial vehicles, but a road level railroad crossing near that gate is considered a hazard. Plainview Gate is considered a safer option because of the elevated viaduct that crosses over the railroad tracks.
The Hoadley Road renovations "would benefit commercial and employee vehicles," Wright said.
For more information about the Pine Bluff Arsenal Compatible Uses Study, go to: https://www.pbarsenalstudy.com/, or email a public comment to: arsenal_cus@att.net.
White Hall and other Jefferson County officials want to repave Arkansas Highway 256 and move the 80-year-old bridge that crosses Caney Bayou. The roadway is prone to flooding and the bridge can't support modern commercial traffic. (Special to The Commercial)