Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Overpass subject of meeting

At a public hearing regarding the Highway 371 Overpass project, residents learned that four dwellings will be eliminated and viewed detailed plans for the junction with the Rosston Road and Highway 67.

Two wooden structures on Rosston Road fall within the right-of-way identified by the Arkansas Highway Department as do two manufactured homes on Highway 67. There had previously been speculation regarding the Pentecostals of Prescott Church but that building does not fall into the right-of-way. The church will lose some property on the north side of its parking lot and along Highway 67 for the widening of that road.

According to the plans, Highway 67 will be widened to include a left-hand turning land for northbound traffic wishing to access the overpass. That intersection will occur just to the north of the Pentecostals of Prescott property  a route approved by some community members who feared that a more southern route would direct traffic away from downtown.

At the opposite end of the overpass, traffic traveling along Highway 371  also known as the Rosston Road  will not be given the option to drive past the overpass route. A short section of Highway 371 will be eliminated as part of the project. This section falls directly at the end of East Third Street behind Olivers One Stop. Instead of proceeding straight along Highway 371, motorists headed south out of Prescott will be forced onto the 371 Bypass. Those who wish to continue southward will then have the option to make a left-hand turn to again connect with the current route 371 takes.

In addition, Third Street will no longer connect with Highway 371 at the current intersection. With the rerouting of 371 at that point, Third Street will become a cul-de-sac and traffic from that neighborhood will be rerouted back toward downtown.

The project has been in the planning stages for months with three possible routes originally proposed. The selected route was the least expensive and the shortest distance of the three, and intersects with Highway 67 nearer downtown than the other two. The overpass will have a 30-mile-per-hour speed limit.

Among the reasons for the planned overpass is to provide a way across the rail road tracks on those occasions when the train has crossings blocks and to cut down on the big truck traffic maneuvering the intersection of East Second and East Main streets. Trucks that use the overpass will instead be funneled out onto Highway 67. For those trucks that then turn south toward Hope or to Potlatch, the route effectively skips the majority of downtown traffic. Trucks proceeding toward Interstate 30 will travel north along Highway 67 and be required to turn left on West Main at Sterling Square. Likewise, trucks traveling toward the overpass from the Interstate will be traveling along West Main where theyll be making a left turn onto Highway 67 South.

Asked if there were any plans to handle increased truck traffic attempting to make turns at that intersection, Arkansas Highway Department Engineer Don Donaldson said, Were going to have to wait and see.

Several in attendance at the public meeting said they approved the project and the route.

This is much less intrusive than I had remembered, said Meredith Dewoody.

I thought it was going to affect more houses, said Jerry Wilson. Im glad of that.

Donaldson said test drilling is ongoing to determine depths for pilings. He said that the goal is to offer the project for bid in the fall.