Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Driver Alert: Barrels Will Be Regular Sight

Arkansas motorists may as well get used to seeing those ugly orange barrels along interstates throughout the state.

John Lipton, vice-chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission, told members of the Clark County Industrial Council (CCIC) with the passage of the Interstate Bond Act in June drivers will see more of these barrels than ever.

With the bond act passing, some 370 miles of Arkansas interstates will be repaired, though not all at one time. Lipton said the work will be done in stages, but must all be completed in five years.

Because of economic development aspects across the state communities could be in dire straits without highway and interstate access. Arkadelphia, he said, is fortunate in being located so close to I-30.

The lack of interstate access, he added, can harm a community's ability to attract business and industry.

The recently completed General Assembly was a busy one, he said, as legislators worked hard on highway and interstate improvement programs.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was told of the necessity to expand his plan to include highways as well as the interstates to help those in rural areas. The end result was the measure passing 4:1 in the special election.

This, Lipton said, shows the people want something done about the condition of Arkansas highways and interstates.

When the session began, he said, the AHC had identified $7 billion in needed highway repair over the next 10 years. The problem was the commission was $3 billion short in trying to get the work done.

He said many of the highways in the plan were similar to Highway 8 between Amity and Arkadelphia.

None of the commission's plans, he added, took city streets or county roads into consideration.

Federal funds were made available to states under the Transportation Enhancement Act for the 21st century (TEA-21).

Under this program, formerly known as ISTEA, Arkansas will receive $140 million more than it did last year.

Still, the federal program is an 80-20 match with the state having to come up with 20 percent of the funds for any highway work done.

Because of the match, Lipton said, the state will have problems taking advantage of this program if taxes weren't raised somewhere.

To offset the match, the Legislature raised gasoline tax 3 cents per gallon, to be phased in an a penny a year for the next three years. This, Lipton said, will generate $36 million a year.

Until the passage of this bond issue, Lipton said, Arkansans have lived for the last 50 years under the pay-as-you-go method.

No highway bond has been passed by voters since Sid McMath was governor.

This has all changed, as the people voted for the current bond issue. This issue, Lipton said, raised diesel tax by 4 cents per gallon to help pay off the bonded indebtedness.

Arkansas, though, is not alone in having problems with its interstate system. Lipton said this is a national problem, and the federal government realized something needed to be done.

To help states repair their interstate highways, he said, the federal government issued Garvey bonds. These bonds can only be used to finance bond issues for roads.

In effect, Lipton said, this is nothing more than borrowing against expected revenue for interstate repair in the future. The Garvey bonds carry a 90-10 match.

"I feel strongly about this," Lipton said of the bond issue. "We can't afford to do anything with it if it's not done right. Otherwise, it may be another 50 years before a bond issue passes in Arkansas."

The AHC, he said, has been getting calls from bond houses across the nation, as well as from bond attorneys nationwide. However, he continued, the commission is asking for specific information from both before they can be considered to handle the money. "We're telling them we want to look at all the proposals," he said. "Let the FOI (Freedom of Information Act) shine. We want to do this in the open.

"If we do it right," he continued, "we can break the bond stigma, then we could come back with bonds again if needed. We will adhere to the law on this."

Lipton apologized in advance for the inconvenience drivers will experience when the barrels are put in place along the interstates. "Bear with us," he said, "there will be barrels everywhere, but this has to be done in five years."

Of the money the legislature raised with the increased gasoline tax, cities and counties will get more for their road and street departments. Clark County will get $112,000 more annually, while Arkadelphia will receive an additional $59,000. But, with the cap on state aid repealed, the county will also get a windfall of $80,000 more making a grand total of $192,000 a year.

With the money in place, he said, drivers should see plenty of construction going on in cities and counties, not just on state highways and interstates.

In Clark County, Lipton said, a total of 41.62 miles of road work were planned under the 1991 Highway Improvement Act. This act was supposed to be a 10-year program, but will likely require 15 years to complete.

Of the work to be done in Clark County, 24.53 miles have been completed, leaving 17.09 to be done. The remaining work includes a segment between Highways 51 and 53, along Highway 26, Highway 53 from Gurdon to I-30 and from the Arkadelphia city limits to the Hot Spring County line along Highway 67.