By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
For decades, the Jacksonville street plan and other area maps have shown a four-lane roadway connecting Hwy. 89 in Lonoke County to Hwy. 107 in Pulaski County.
The widening of Graham Road from Loop Road to Elm and Oak, a distance of about a mile, is part of that master plan.
City Engineer Jay Whisker said he was first hired by the city in 2000 and plans for widening Graham Road were already on the books.
The project was slated to begin as early as 2008 but was deleted because of funding issues, according to officials at Metroplan, a local body that coordinates projects within the region and across multi-jurisdictional lines. The federal portion of the money is funneled through Metroplan.
The current $7 million project, 80 percent funded by federal money, is in the utility phase, which has caused more closures and delays than expected.
The contract for the actual widening will be awarded in September and construction will start shortly after that.
According to the state High-way Department, the length of the construction contract will be determined July 15.
There is no funding available yet for the other two portions of the four-lane project—Loop Road to Hwy. 89 or West Main to Hwy. 107.
Whisker said the concept has always been for four lanes connecting the two highways.
Main Street, through Jacksonville to Redmond Road is already a four lane, Whisker explained, and the one-way roads of Elm and Oak leading to and from the Main Street overpass are considered together, as four lanes, so this work between Oak and Loop is just an extension of the plan.
He said the work that residents and drivers are seeing now is the utility work. “The actual road construction shouldn’t close the roadway like the utility work has.”
Whisker said most of the road closures that drivers and residents have experienced were made by the city’s wastewater utility. “The sewer line is under the east-bound lane of Graham Road and moving it was been difficult. We’ve had some land issues and have found other utilities in the way.”
He added that the utility work for a project like this is the hardest. “Most of this work is underground and the mapping wasn’t as good back then as it is now and it has caused sections of the road to be closed longer than we wanted,” the city engineer said.
Whisker said the city has received complaints about the closures and about all the trees being cut down.
He said the trees are in easements purchased by Entergy and are being cut so utilities can be moved. In a utility easement, the resident maintains ownership of the land, and the utility company maintains the use and can cut down trees as needed, Whisker explained.
Whisker said once done, it will help with traffic flow. “There’s a lot of developable land off Graham Road,” he said, “plus traffic is like water or electricity, it will take the path of least resistance and the four-lane route will definitely make it easier for drivers.”
But residents will have to make adjustments as the widening realigns many front yards and the traffic starts to increase.
