Garland Construction Causing Headaches
By: Cassidy Hodges
Updated: July 20, 2012
"It sounds like we're in a war zone," says Rosanne Brown, who's lived in her house for 28 years.
Almost two months have passed since construction began on Garland Avenue.
It's a noise homeowners like Rosanne Brown are sick of hearing.
"It's not really very pleasant," says Brown.
The plans to turn Highway 112 into a 5 lane road have taken about half of her front yard.
"What they pay for the property doesn't make up for what they're taking away from us," says Brown.
But Fayetteville City Engineer Chris Brown says they've put this project off for far too long.
"It's been something that's been looked at by the city and the state for many many years and I think a big reason why it wasn't done was because of the impacts to the properties. It got to the point where the traffic needs were such that we really had no choice," says Chris Brown.
Because two lanes just isn't enough for all these cars.
"We have some bottlenecks right around the North Street intersection through the harps shopping area," says Chris Brown.
The city is relocating all the utility lines and hope to be finished by December. That's when the real widening project will start.
"We really worked with the highway department to try and minimize the footprint keep the right of way as narrow as possible," says Chris Brown.
But relief from all this road work won't end anytime soon. The city doesn't expect to be finished until 2014.
"As with any construction project like this, when you're widening a road it has to get worse before it gets better. That's basically what happens, so it will look better than it does now once the facility is completed," says Chris Brown.
But homeowners know their neighborhood will never be the same.
"It will look a whole lot better when they finish but it will never look the way it did," says Rosanne Brown.
Almost two months have passed since construction began on Garland Avenue.
It's a noise homeowners like Rosanne Brown are sick of hearing.
"It's not really very pleasant," says Brown.
The plans to turn Highway 112 into a 5 lane road have taken about half of her front yard.
"What they pay for the property doesn't make up for what they're taking away from us," says Brown.
But Fayetteville City Engineer Chris Brown says they've put this project off for far too long.
"It's been something that's been looked at by the city and the state for many many years and I think a big reason why it wasn't done was because of the impacts to the properties. It got to the point where the traffic needs were such that we really had no choice," says Chris Brown.
Because two lanes just isn't enough for all these cars.
"We have some bottlenecks right around the North Street intersection through the harps shopping area," says Chris Brown.
The city is relocating all the utility lines and hope to be finished by December. That's when the real widening project will start.
"We really worked with the highway department to try and minimize the footprint keep the right of way as narrow as possible," says Chris Brown.
But relief from all this road work won't end anytime soon. The city doesn't expect to be finished until 2014.
"As with any construction project like this, when you're widening a road it has to get worse before it gets better. That's basically what happens, so it will look better than it does now once the facility is completed," says Chris Brown.
But homeowners know their neighborhood will never be the same.
"It will look a whole lot better when they finish but it will never look the way it did," says Rosanne Brown.
