Alexander approved for street paving grant

The City of Alexander has been notified by letter that it has been approved for a $250,000.00 grant for re-paving city streets. Mayor Paul Mitchell posted an image of the letter from the Arkansas State Aid Committee on his Facebook page.

Streets on the list for re-paving are A.C. Wallace (between the railroad tracks and city park), E. 4^th Street, Jason Drive, Kent Drive, Alton Drive, Regency Drive, and Lindsey Drive. (Highlighted with a green line on the map below.) Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) engineers have estimated the cost of the 1.79-mile project at $257,550.00. Bids must still be obtained from contractors, but if the estimate is accurate the city will have to pay the remaining $7,550.00.

The next step is for the council to approve a resolution accepting the grant and giving ArDOT permission to advertise for bids. ArDot will advertise for bids, review the bids and oversee the final project.

This is the second $250,000.00 grant received by the city from the Arkansas State Aid Committee. The first was in 2015.

With one of the bids coming in under budget the 2015 grant was enough to fund the paving of Autumn Cove and the end portion of Magnolia Glen from the Autumn Cove intersection in the St. Joseph’s Glen subdivision, Brookwood Road from Don Parker to the railroad tracks, all of Cornerstone, the paved portion of Kelli Place off Highway 111, and 2ndStreet between Highway 111 and Main Street. (Highlighted with an orange line on the map below.) With $14,782.51 left of the $250,000 grant the city council approved adding $150,000 from the street fund to pave Don Parker Drive from Brookwood Road to West Azalea Drive, pave West Azalea Drive from Don Parker Drive to Kathy Drive and pave Dogwood-Ranchette Drive from South Alexander Road to Birch Drive. (Streets are highlighted with an orange dash line on the map below.)

In 2017 a separate paving project was approved that did not include a grant. Council members appropriated $225,000 from the street fund to repave eight areas in Alexander. The estimated bid submitted by Cranford Construction Company of North Little Rock was $200,672.56. The remaining appropriation was to cover any cost overruns and to reapply lane striping. Cranford Construction submitted the low bid for the first grant.

The eight areas were Alexander Road in front of Knollwood Mobile Home Park north of Interstate 30, 1^st Street from Highway 111 to Main Street (along Hess Extra Stop), South Alexander Road from the end of Highway 111 to the city limit, West Azalea from the intersection of South Alexander Road to the Kathy Drive/Brookwood Road intersection, Redwood Lane between Brookwood Road and Don Parker Drive, Brookwood Road from West Azalea to Don Parker Drive, and Birch Drive from West Azalea to Dogwood-Ranchette Drive.

New pavement was also applied from the end of East Azalea Drive, for approximately 310 feet, to connect with Skyline Drive in Shannon Hills. At the time there was only a layer of rock connecting the two streets. Despite that, East Azalea Drive had seen an increase in traffic between the two cities beginning in 2016. (Streets included in the 2017 project are highlighted with a magenta dash on the map below.)