FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — A portion of Old Wire Road in Fayetteville is shutting down for a week as part of a multi-phase improvement project.
Old Wire Road from Overcrest Street to Elmwood drive will be closed day and night for the next seven days starting at 6 a.m. this morning (July 30). It will not reopen again until Monday, Aug. 6. Detour routes will be marked, and a full map is provided below.
The project is one of three this week closing thoroughfares in Fayetteville. Asphalt work will close Garland Avenue at night until Monday (Aug. 6), and utility work will close a portion of West Avenue downtown.
The closure is so various improvements can be made along the stretch of road. The improvements are part of a multi-phase project that will improve Old Wire Road from Ash Street to Gulley Park. The improvements include:
- Adding a two-way protected bike lane separated from the roadway by a 4-foot-wide median
- Adding a 5-foot-wide sidewalk
- Adding street and sidewalk lighting
- Adding new traffic signals, including a dedicated bike signal, at Old Wire and Township Street
- Adding a pedestrian signal at Stanton Avenue called a High Intensity Activated Crosswalk, or HAWK, or a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon
- Overlaying asphalt on the northbound lane from Ash Street to Gulley Park’s parking lot
- Stormwater and drainage improvements for the streets and Niokaska Creek
The protected bike lane being built is a prototype model that may be used elsewhere in Northwest Arkansas if this one proves successful, the city said.
The work is part of an overall improvement project for Old Wire Road that has been going on for the last few years. The project has included improvements to Old Wire Road from Mission Boulevard to Ash Street, including widening the road, adding sidewalks and bike lanes and putting in a new signal at Mission Boulevard and Old Wire Road.
The project is expected to be completed by May 4, 2019.
