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Roadway foes ask county to elaborate |
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Wednesday, 21 January 2009 |
Saline County residents opposed to the proposed Rock Island Expressway said they would like to see a more detailed plan before the county tries to purchase their land.
Speaking on behalf of the opponents, John Terry said one concern is the “apparent lack of complete planning.”
Area resident Chester Harrison said he would like to see a clear plan before his land is sold.
The county seeks to turn the abandoned Rock Island Railroad right-of-way into a road fit for use by commercial and individual vehicles. County Judge Lanny Fite said the expressway would be an access-controlled road with the goal of moving traffic at high speeds. The expressway also would feature a 7.5-mile walking and bicycle trail.
The right-of-way begins at Arkansas 183 where the old Reynolds Metals plant once operated and ends at Baseline Road at the Saline-Pulaski county line.
Another concern, Terry said, is that residents, some of whom bought land and moved in the area 30 and 40 years ago, “do not relish the encroachment of such a project, particularly as poorly planned as it seems to be with a very likelihood of successful completion.”
“We haven’t seen any complete plan on the proposed project, no environmental statement impact or any real indication of where sufficient funding for the project would come from,” Terry said.
Fite said today that the county, through Metroplan, the regional planning group for Central Arkansas, tried to purchase the abandoned railroad, but federal dollars weren’t there. That process started in 2001 and continued up through early 2008, Fite said.
“We elected to go ahead with how we’re doing it now because the federal dollars weren’t there and the county couldn’t get clear title. Then people started calling in and saying they own property.”
But, Fite said, based on the 2001 plan, those people didn’t own the land.
Since last year, an outside company has been surveying the land to see who owns it. Terry and other opponents are concerned with that project as well.
“The fact is,” Terry said, “the old Rock Island right-of-way no longer exists and hasn’t for more than 20 years — there are only land parcels that belong to individuals, churches, businesses etc. that are being used in various ways. Surveys are being done at a pretty high cost to determine who owns the land when all of the land ownership is appropriately recorded in the county real estate office.”
Fite said he believes people listed have been paying taxes since 1985 (when Rock Island abandoned the railroad), but to avoid potential legal issues, “we have to make sure.” He said the records indicate who has been paying taxes on the land, but that doesn’t necessarily mean those people own the land.
“We’re in the preliminary stages to see who owns it, and we have to make sure we follow due diligence,” the judge said. Another grave concern of the opponents is cost to taxpayers. Using the cost-per-mile quotes from a Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department document, Terry said a 7.5-mile segment of highway would cost the county a minimum of $24 million. The proposed expressway would stretch 7.5 miles.
Fite said that isn’t a fair estimate because no federal dollars would be used on the project and it would be done locally, so the county wouldn’t have to spend a lot of money on different studies, such as environmental impact.
He said more details on the project will be available when the survey is completed. Then “we’ll come back with elevations” and see how the land needs to be cut. “Then we can put a better cost to it. Steps have to be taken in advance before we can start drawing up plans.”
It is estimated the cost to purchase all the land will be $1.1 million.
Terry and others have been circulating a petition objecting to the proposal. “Several citizens are working on circulating this petition and the total number of signatures is growing every day,” he said.
Fite noted he understands the points made by Terry’s group. “Anything of this size and magnitude is going to affect somebody,” he said.
He added he has support for the project from the highway department and Metroplan.
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Razorbacks
