Paving of Alexander streets begins Tuesday

Beginning Tuesday (April 11), weather permitting, anyone driving through the City of Alexander may see paving equipment laying a fresh smooth layer of asphalt on several city streets. Seven streets described by Mayor Paul Mitchell as, “The worst of the worse,” and, “Most traveled,” will be paved and one will be extended to connect Alexander to Shannon Hills.

In a Special Meeting held Thursday, April 6 council members appropriated $225,000 as part of accepting a bid submitted by Cranford Construction Company of North Little Rock. The estimated bid is $200,672.56. Besides wanting to be able to cover any cost overruns Mitchell said additional money would be needed to reapply lane striping to some of the streets being paved.

The areas to receive an additional two inches of asphalt are North Alexander Road between Highway 5 and the I-30 Interchange, 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 will be laid from the end of East Azalea Drive, for approximately 310 feet, to connect with Skyline Drive in Shannon Hills. Currently there is only a layer of rock connecting the two streets. East Azalea Drive has seen an increase in traffic between the two cities beginning in 2016.

The entire project will be funded through the city’s street fund. This is the second street paving project in nearly 17 months. In November 2015 several streets were paved using funding from a state highway grant and funding from the city’s street department fund.

The grant was enough to fund the paving of Autumn Cove and that portion of Magnolia Glen that intersects Autumn Cove in St. Joseph’s Glen, Brookwood Road from Don Parker to the railroad tracks, all of Cornerstone between Highway 111 and South Shobe Road, the paved portion of Kelli Place off Highway 111, and 2ndStreet between Highway 111 and Main Street. With $14,782.51 left of the $250,000 grant the city council approved adding $150,000 to the leftover grant money to pave Don Parker Drive from Brookwood Road to West Azalea Drive, paving West Azalea Drive from Don Parker Drive to Kathy Drive and paving all of Dogwood Ranchette Drive from South Alexander Road to Birch Drive.

Mitchell did ask for bids from the Saline County Highway Department and Redstone Construction Group in Little Rock. The bid from Cranford was less than what Saline County would have charged and Redstone did not turn in a bid. As a precautionary measure a motion was made and approved to suspend the need for three bids.

The next regular meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, April 17. Meetings start at 6 PM and are held in the courtroom at the City of Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.