Roadway would be located east of 1242nd Street at a cost of $4.4 million

By John McLoone

PRESCOTT – The planned bypass linking Highway 35 on the south with highways 10 and 29 on the north in the City of Prescott is proposed to be relocated.

The Prescott Plan Commission on Tuesday, Sept. 6 was slated to review plans for a new roadway. The city passed a comprehensive plan in 2015 that had a new arterial corridor mapped out that would have started on Hollister Avenue/570th Avenue ou High way 35 and headed north on what is now Sea Wing Boulevard. That would have impacted planned residential development in the area, with 49 new lots planned in the Great Rivers Subdivision. Great Rivers is being developed by the Most Family Partnership.

Talk about the planned arterial road was brought back to the drawing board when the Mosts attended the May plan commission meeting, and a lengthy discussion about the bypass was held.

A major drawback from building the road where the city originally planned was the price. A ravine north of the Great River development would have to be crossed by a building a 1,000-foot-long, 100-foot-high bridge. The Mosts suggested upgrading 1200th Street, which runs along a similar route to the south. However, Mayor Robert Daugherty said that’s not a feasible plan, because it’s a difficult road to navigate in the winter. In addition, City Planner Carter Hayes pointed out to the plan commission in a report this week that 1200th lies solely in the Town of Oak Grove and is located outside of the city’s extraterritorial planning area.

“We talked about 1200th Street being an alternative. In the wintertime, that’s not a viable alternative. That’s not a good road,” Daugherty said at the July plan commission meeting, which was attended by Oak Grove residents in opposition to such a plan.

It was noted at the July meeting that using the original route included in the comprehensive plan from Sea Wing north would cost between $11 and $16 million, because of that long bridge.

A new road

The city’s official map adopted as part of the 2015 Comprehensive Plan would have to be amended if a new route is mapped. The new arterial route would have “limited driveways and appropriately spaced local road intersections” to move traffic from Highway 35 to highways 10 and 29, the city plan states.

City staff explored three new routes that would allow for Great Rivers Subdivision expansion and would be east of the ravine, so a bridge wouldn’t need to be constructed. The first option was considered by staff to be the most viable. It would start from 57th Avenue, slightly east of 1242nd Street. A second option was north from 570th about halfway between 1242nd and 1200th Streets. Option three was 1200th Street.

“City staff has asked Cedar Corporation to draft a proposal to amend the Comprehensive Plan Transportation Chapter. The amendment will include the updated route location east of 1242nd Street, circumventing the need for a large-scale bridge. The route will still accommodate for north-south movement of traffic,” Reed wrote.

The staff-preferred option connects with the originally planned arterial route south of Highway 10. That original route would then travel north, intersecting with Highway 10, and moving traffic east of the Eagle Ridge Business Park to connect with Highway 29 at County Road F.

The proposed new arterial roadway was projected by the city’s engineering firm, Cedar Corp., to cost $4,426,500. The road “would be built and implemented if and when development takes place along the route,” according to Reed.