A project to improve safety on a busy section of Arkansas 5 between Arkansas 7 and Fountain Lake in Garland County has evolved to more modest improvements since state traffic engineers first looked at it more than four years ago.
The reduced scope of work will still make the section a safer drive for motorists, but will also, in an era of uncertain federal funding, save money, state highway officials said.
The public will have an opportunity to look at the latest scope of the project at a public meeting Tuesday in Fountain Lake.
Kevin Williams, who works at Krazy Tread Tires on Arkansas 5, also called Park Avenue, welcomed improvements to the section of the two-lane highway that runs past his business.
"Anything that makes the road better is a good thing," he said.
The project scope was first outlined in a May 2014 memo in which the segment of Arkansas 5 from Arkansas 7 east for more than 7 miles to the Saline County line was included on a list of two-lane highway sections targeted for safety improvements based on data culled from 2009 to 2011 that identified crash history, fatal and serious injury crashes, roadway design and traffic volume.
Arkansas 5, which is an alternate way to travel between Benton and Hot Springs, has long been a focus of department initiatives to improve safety.
The recommended improvements at the time included widening shoulders, straightening curves and giving motorists a clearer zone to see oncoming traffic, all methods proven to reduce the rate of crashes involving fatalities and serious injuries, according to the memo.
It also included two sections that would have continuous center turn lanes added.
Most of the crashes, according to the data, occurred on the west end of the original project on a segment less than 2 miles long.
The project scope in 2014 was subject to change, according to Jessie Jones, the Arkansas Department of Transportation's division engineer for transportation and policy planning.
"The intent of the original study was to identify the preliminary scope of the project, with the understanding that the scope would be refined during the design process," she said in a Jan. 18 memo to Emanuel Banks, the agency's deputy director and chief engineer.
A refinement came as a result of a site visit in June 2016 and a meeting with local transportation planners 14 months later.
At the time of the site visit, an average of 6,300 vehicles traveled the route daily, a number arrived at by counting the number of vehicles at several sections. But the latest count at the western end of the route showed 9,200 vehicles traveling at that point every day.
The result of the additional work? The scope of the project was reduced to one two-way left turn lane on Arkansas 5 from Arkansas 7. And that two-way left turn lane was reduced to 1.4 miles in length instead of 1.73 miles. The project now ends at Deerpark Road.
Reducing the length of the remaining two-way left turn lane was used to "implement a cost-effective solution," according to a summary of the scope changes.
The agency might be pinching pennies, but scaling back the improvements won't compromise safety, said Danny Straessle, the department spokesman.
The department noted other improvements -- the installation of a high-friction surface treatment -- that are to be made and already have been made on the larger section will make it safer.
The treatment allows vehicle tires to maintain their grip in both dry and wet conditions and reduce crashes in areas known to have a high frequency of crashes, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
The meeting will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Safe Room A at the Fountain Lake School District, 4207 Park Ave. The public is invited at any time during the scheduled hours to view displays, ask questions and offer comments.
Metro on 05/07/2018