Some road work could be slowing down drivers in Fayetteville starting Monday (July 8). APAC-Central, Inc. of Fayetteville was awarded the contract at $656,696. Work is expected to last about a month.
The purpose of the project is to resurface 1.3 miles of Highway 16 (West 15th St.) between Razorback Road and Highway 71B (S. School Avenue) in Fayetteville. The second part of this project is to resurface Highway 71B (S. School Avenue) from Highway 16 to West Cato Springs Road in Fayetteville.
There are homes and businesses like Mama Dean's that are in the future work zone. On Sunday (July 7) the soul food spot was busy and with resurfacing planned, its manager said it might turn customers away.
"If they put all the cones and all the caution signs it might affect business," said Kenneth Dixon, Mama Dean's manager. However, Dixon said the road is uneven and bumpy.
University of Arkansas student Scott Boone was eating with family. He said it may affect his travel along with current campus construction.
"It's been kind of hard riding my scooter to class and over to friends house, but I'm sure it will be good for the city," Boone said.
The resurfacing is close to the University of Arkansas campus.
"They're just putting money into the university and that's going to be good for the future," Boone said.
The highway department said to expect lane closures.
"This is one of those projects that we saw that there was a need there and we wanted to bring that back into better condition," said Chad Adams, district engineer with the Highway Department.
"It`s not a high traffic area but it does get its fair share of cars and well try to be mindful of that," Adams said.
Construction work will be from 6:30 a.m to 6:30 p.m.
Future road improvement projects in Washington County include County Road 11 (Bush Valley Road) and County Road 48 (Wyman Road). Projects are funded through the State Aid Road Program.