Thursday afternoon citizens got a chance to look at and ask questions about the preferred, or selected, route for the proposed Highway 18 expansion.
Ruby Jordan, with the Arkansas Highway Department said the purpose of Thursday's meeting, which was held at Blytheville Middle School, was to allow citizens to comment on the proposed design for the Highway 18 expansion.
"We started out with two alternatives," Jordan said. "Based on the comments we received from the last meeting, information that we gathered and information put in our environmental assessment, what we have done is narrowed down those alternatives, and we now have what is called a 'preferred alternative.' What we are doing is showing the proposed design as well as talking with citizens about the impacts of the design and allowing them to comment as well as the department staff giving feedback to the citizens."
The informal meeting lasted three hours, with citizens dropping in looking at the design and talking with Arkansas Highway Department staff either one-on-one or in groups.
"This was what we had labeled Alternative 2 at the first meeting," Jordan said. "Alternative 2 begins on Highway 61, veers southeast at a new location, tying it into Sycamore Street, continues east, then veers northeast to a new location beginning near Fifth Street. Then it is going to tie into Ash Street near First Street and follows Ash to Main to the existing Highway 18. That is what we are going to call the new location of Highway 18 once it is completed."
According to Jordan, after the meeting all comments will be evaluated and addressed. She said there may be minor changes to come up with the final design.
"Unless something drastic happens from this meeting or during another part of the process, we will not be back for another meeting," Jordan said. "People are commenting on the design."
When asked when construction would start, Jordan replied that Thursday's meeting was a step in a process that has several steps to go before completion.
"Work will start when funds become available," Jordan said. "Regardless of the date, it's part of the process we have to follow. We are going to still have to do some survey work, then after we get the final design, right of way will have to start doing their part. That is where you have to buy property, relocate people and you have to do all of that before you actually start construction of a project."
Jordan said the Highway 18 improvement will include four lanes with a turn lane, curb and gutter work, sidewalks and a railroad overpass.
Meeting attendees were interested in not only the overpass portion of the project but the impact it was going to have on their property.
"We need an overpass. Progress is important. Safety is important. But our home, which is a family home, will be affected," Jill Hubbard said. "If it happens it happens."
"I'm really here to get information," Winford Moreland of Paragould said. "I used to have a garage and body shop for 24 years on First and Ash Street, and I was trying to get an idea if it is going to get my property or not. I can't really tell."
"The proposed four-lane is going right in front of the house we own," property owners Tracy Adams and Charles Betts said. "It would be really hard for us to get and keep tenants. A four-lane would be right in the backyard. We would rather sell it."
"I'm sure this project is going to make things more convenient," said the Rev. Odale Jones of First MB Church. "There will be at least one clear passage across the railroad tracks, which is important in life-or-death situations. I think it will definitely benefit my congregation and this community to have an open passage for emergency situations."
czolman@blythevillecourier.com