Meetings in each of Little Rock's seven wards will begin next week to allow for public input on how to spend the next round of sales-tax revenue dedicated for street and drainage improvements.
The city's first three-year cycle is up this year, and the next approved projects will be scheduled for 2016, 2017 and 2018. A series of ward meetings resulted in the first round of projects.
Residents will be updated at the March and April ward meetings about what projects were chosen and completed, and which projects were suggested during the first round but not chosen. They then can recommend new projects or tell city leaders to complete the initial requests.
The first meeting is Monday for Ward 1 residents at the Dunbar Community Center, 2001 W. 16th St.
The next meeting is April 1 for Ward 4 residents at the McDermott Elementary School cafeteria, 1200 Reservoir Road.
Ward 7 residents will meet April 6 at the Southwest Community Center auditorium, 6401 Baseline Road.
The Ward 3 meeting is scheduled for April 8 at the Hall High School Media Center, 6700 H St.
Ward 5 will meet April 9 at the Highland Valley United Methodist Church, 15524 Chenal Parkway.
Ward 6 will meet April 13 at the Northwest Patrol Division, 10001 Kanis Road.
All meetings are set for 6 p.m.
Funding for the street and drainage projects comes from revenue from the 2011 voter-approved 1 percent sales-tax increase. The city allocated $72 million for public-works projects over the 10-year life of the tax, which will end in 2022. Ten percent of that is set aside for citywide street projects. Then funding was divided evenly among the seven wards for zone-specific projects.
Each ward will receive $2.6 million every three-year cycle. Projects include street overlays, bicycle lanes, speed bumps and drainage improvements, for example.
Residents can submit requests before their ward meetings by visiting www.littlerock.org, clicking on "city departments" on the drop-down menu to the left of the page, then to "public works," "civil engineering" and "sales tax and bond projects." A list of chosen projects during the first cycle is also available there.
At least 85 percent of the first round of projects is complete or underway and all will be finished on time, according to city officials. Because the city started the projects in the middle of 2013, the three-year end date will bleed over into 2016, City Manager Bruce Moore has said.
Metro on 03/24/2015