ARDOT open house for AR-112 improvements

[MikieTimT]

https://www.arkansashighways.com/public_meetings/2020_PM/040746/040746.aspx

Meeting on 3/5.  About several years overdue, but glad it's finally moving forward.  Only the stretch within Fayetteville city limits, but a highly congested stretch.

[MikieTimT]

Went to the open house and saw the presentation materials.  Below is the overall project map.  Looks like they are putting in 2 multi-lane roundabouts.  One at Garland/Van Ashe to replace the traffic light there and one at Howard Nickell Rd.  Howard Nickell Rd. gets severely backed up with traffic turning north on 112, so despite my dislike for multi-lane roundabouts, it should help that situation.  The state is doing this project in exchange for offloading 71B/College Ave. onto the City of Fayetteville.  There will be sidewalks/bike lane and a bike/ped. tunnel under the Garland/Van Ashe roundabout.  Supposedly starting 2021 with 2022 completion.

https://www.arkansashighways.com/public_meetings/2020_PM/040746/040746_2020.03.02_PIPIHO.pdf
https://www.arkansashighways.com/public_meetings/2020_PM/040746/040746%20PI%20Display-2of2(3-5-2020).pdf

[M86]

Went to the open house and saw the presentation materials.  Below is the overall project map.  Looks like they are putting in 2 multi-lane roundabouts.  One at Garland/Van Ashe to replace the traffic light there and one at Howard Nickell Rd.  Howard Nickell Rd. gets severely backed up with traffic turning north on 112, so despite my dislike for multi-lane roundabouts, it should help that situation.  The state is doing this project in exchange for offloading 71B/College Ave. onto the City of Fayetteville.  There will be sidewalks/bike lane and a bike/ped. tunnel under the Garland/Van Ashe roundabout.  Supposedly starting 2021 with 2022 completion.

https://www.arkansashighways.com/public_meetings/2020_PM/040746/040746_2020.03.02_PIPIHO.pdf
https://www.arkansashighways.com/public_meetings/2020_PM/040746/040746%20PI%20Display-2of2(3-5-2020).pdf

I have moved from that area, but wasn't a western cooridor envisioned for AR 112?

[bjrush]

Why are there turn Lanes on both sides of Cris Hollow Rd? The turn to the South would go nowhere unless there is a plan to extend it in the future

[Tomahawkin]

@M86. Same here, I thought SR 112 would have been widened west of 49 and would extend with 5 lanes into Springdale and beyond running parallel to 49. That was an idea I had long ago as an alternate route to 49 in case of a nasty accident. Plus I thought that area was going to develop north of the Same Club????

[MikieTimT]

I have moved from that area, but wasn't a western cooridor envisioned for AR 112?

They will eventually get around to 4 laning it between Fayetteville and Bentonville, but they've also studied a western bypass further west (I-449?).  I figure both will happen in 15-20 years as this area keeps growing west of the I-49 corridor and along the US-412 corridor.

[Tomahawkin]

A west bypass would be so proactive but it wont be on the table for 10 years like you mentioned. I think what little money Arkansas gets will go to IH 57, widening IH 30 SW of Little Rock and IH 69 first. IH 449 would bring a lot of commercial business to the areas economy with its closeness to XNA, IMO, and it's all speculation. Also I think XNA could give a lot of relief to all 4 airports (Memphis Dallas [2] and Atlanta...

[MikieTimT]

A west bypass would be so proactive but it wont be on the table for 10 years like you mentioned. I think what little money Arkansas gets will go to IH 57, widening IH 30 SW of Little Rock and IH 69 first. IH 449 would bring a lot of commercial business to the areas economy with its closeness to XNA, IMO, and it's all speculation. Also I think XNA could give a lot of relief to all 4 airports (Memphis Dallas [2] and Atlanta...

They'll likely add 1 lane in each direction on I-49 before any future bypass, but real access roads would be even more beneficial at this point.  Development in Rogers/Bentonville may be at the point that they really aren't feasible any longer in that area, but Fayetteville at least has them along I-49 and Fulbright Expressway.

[US71]

@M86. Same here, I thought SR 112 would have been widened west of 49 and would extend with 5 lanes into Springdale and beyond running parallel to 49. That was an idea I had long ago as an alternate route to 49 in case of a nasty accident. Plus I thought that area was going to develop north of the Same Club????

My guess is 112 is very hilly and curvy, plus there is development close to the road at least as far as New Hope Rd.

[MikieTimT]

Continuation of the public comment period for widening the section from US-412 in Tontitown to AR-12 in Bentonville.  They look to be roundabout happy with some of the alternatives, so I made sure to push for bypasses of Elm Springs and Cave Springs in my comment submissions, and bypassing the 2 sharp corners in Bentonville.  Comments are accepted until Jan. 1.

https://vpiph02-virtual-lobby-012305-090513-090514-ardot.hub.arcgis.com/

[Tomahawkin]

I'm really suprised this was not done sooner. 112 would be a perfect alternative route in case a big accident/wreck were to happen on IH 49

[MikieTimT]

Got an email a few days ago from ARDOT about the 3 AR-112 widening projects between AR-12 and US-412.  They will post the current designs on 7/6 at https://www.ardot.gov/publicmeetings and have a registration link for the WebEx presentation, so progress is being made.

[US71]

I'm really suprised this was not done sooner. 112 would be a perfect alternative route in case a big accident/wreck were to happen on IH 49

The hills south of Tontitown aren't truck friendly.

[MikieTimT]

I'm really suprised this was not done sooner. 112 would be a perfect alternative route in case a big accident/wreck were to happen on IH 49

The hills south of Tontitown aren't truck friendly.

Certainly not around the S curve in the Clear Creek Valley either.  These 3 projects are all north of US-412, so I'm not sure when the next update on the projects south of US-412 is coming up.  They've still got to upgrade and offload the southern parts to Fayetteville, up to Howard Nickell Rd. anyway, with all of the necessary roundabouts.

[MikieTimT]

Had survey crews on AR-112 north of Cave Springs, so they are progressing with the engineering work now.

[US71]

Had survey crews on AR-112 north of Cave Springs, so they are progressing with the engineering work now.

Yeah, they are wanting to widen 112 north of Tontitown.

[MikieTimT]

Still looks like roundabout hell.  Removes most of the benefit of adding 2 additional lanes as we'll be lucky to average 40MPH.

Highway 112 Widening Howard Nickell Road to Highway 412  - Washington County

[Wayward Memphian]

Still looks like roundabout hell.  Removes most of the benefit of adding 2 additional lanes as we'll be lucky to average 40MPH.

Highway 112 Widening Howard Nickell Road to Highway 412  - Washington County

They need to curtail that crap.on state highway where trucks are common.

[US71]

Honestly, trying to widen 112 will be a pain in the arse with those 90 degree curves.

[MikieTimT]

Honestly, trying to widen 112 will be a pain in the arse with those 90 degree curves.

They're all new terrain bypasses of those curves.  Complete with additional roundabouts!

[MikieTimT]

The goal is to make AR-112 "walkable, bikable, and transit-ready" after all.  At the cost of 15+ roundabouts between Sam's Club in Fayetteville and AR-12 in Bentonville between the various projects it'll take to finish it.

[US71]

Honestly, trying to widen 112 will be a pain in the arse with those 90 degree curves.

They're all new terrain bypasses of those curves.  Complete with additional roundabouts!

Ah! Ruin the scenery in te name of "progress".

[MikieTimT]

I was mistaken.  When looking at the diagrams for all of the 9 different ARDOT projects to widen AR-112 from Poplar St. in Fayetteville to SW 41st St. in Bentonville, there are 27 roundabouts along 19.5 miles of rather congested state highway.  Here is a PDF with the map of all of the projects:

https://www.ardot.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Hwy112_Meetings.pdf

And there's links to 7 of the projects in the above document, which are set to begin shortly in Fayetteville and work northward.  2 of the southernmost projects don't have links in the above document, but can be searched by job number in your favorite browser, are going to be turned over to Fayetteville upon completion to eliminate the mileage from the state highway system.  For the life of me, I can't see how this will actually improve travel times, despite having 2 more lanes with the ludicrous number of roundabouts.  Design speed 45MPH allegedly, though.

[rte66man]

I was mistaken.  When looking at the diagrams for all of the 9 different ARDOT projects to widen AR-112 from Poplar St. in Fayetteville to SW 41st St. in Bentonville, there are 27 roundabouts along 19.5 miles of rather congested state highway.  Here is a PDF with the map of all of the projects:

https://www.ardot.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Hwy112_Meetings.pdf

And there's links to 7 of the projects in the above document, which are set to begin shortly in Fayetteville and work northward.  2 of the southernmost projects don't have links in the above document, but can be searched by job number in your favorite browser, are going to be turned over to Fayetteville upon completion to eliminate the mileage from the state highway system.  For the life of me, I can't see how this will actually improve travel times, despite having 2 more lanes with the ludicrous number of roundabouts.  Design speed 45MPH allegedly, though.

At a certain point, the traffic volumes make roundabouts much less effective. Just outside of London, the A40 (old main road from Oxford to London) used to have roundabouts at major intersections from Uxbridge to near the Westway. I drove that road many times and knew to avoid it during rush hour because of the backups at each roundabout.  I see from Google Earth that all of them have been removed and replaced mainly by grade separations. I do not know what the estimated traffic ounts are for 112 but I agree with MikieTimT that this is a recipe for massive traffic snarls.

[MikieTimT]

At a certain point, the traffic volumes make roundabouts much less effective. Just outside of London, the A40 (old main road from Oxford to London) used to have roundabouts at major intersections from Uxbridge to near the Westway. I drove that road many times and knew to avoid it during rush hour because of the backups at each roundabout.  I see from Google Earth that all of them have been removed and replaced mainly by grade separations. I do not know what the estimated traffic ounts are for 112 but I agree with MikieTimT that this is a recipe for massive traffic snarls.

The 2021 AADT for that 19.5 mile stretch of 2-lane AR-112 is 9K-11K.  There are currently about 3 miles of it from between the ARDOT Resident Engineer's Office in Cave Springs and the Osage Creek bridge that are 55 MPH.  Rogers and Cave Springs are growing into that segment rather rapidly with residential subdivisions, so that speed limit is likely doomed within 3-5 years regardless.  The road currently flows decently well for a high traffic 2-lane, but there are certain intersections that back up considerably during rush hours trying to get on, and one in particular to get off the mainline with left turns.  The issue with roundabouts is that they don't really prioritize traffic on the mainline, so the current somewhat slow flow, usually due to someone driving under the speed limit (there are literally only 3 passing zones in the entire 19.5 miles, one of them very short), moves in all but a couple of spots, but at least the mainline has priority at the majority of the intersections currently.  Roundabouts would certainly help on certain intersections to enable folks to get onto the mainline better during rush hour.  I only question the need for 27 of them on a suburban state highway.  I guess they're building for when it's no longer suburban.  NWA's growth is pretty much guaranteed to be west of I-49 due to Beaver Lake, so it puts it along AR-112 until land values dictate that it goes further west.