The road construction crews that have turned Highway 5 into a traffic snarl around Mountain Home will eventually be moving north and south out of town in the coming weeks.
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Burns says the typical lifespan for a freshly resurfaced stretch of highway is about 10 years, depending on traffic and weather. It’s been between 10 and 12 years since Highway 5 was resurfaced, he says.
The ARDOT project on Highway 5 North also includes resurfacing a portion of Highway 178 towards Lakeview. The Highway 178 resurfacing should stop at approximately the Lakeview-Midway Public Water Authority office. Burns says there are future plans to resurface more of Highway 178, but the project with stop at the Water Authority for the time being.
The project on Highway 5 South calls for safety improvements to be made to the highway.
Burns explains what exactly is being done to make that stretch of road safer.
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Improvements for Highway 5 South also include adding turn lanes to part of the highway. A resurfaced Highway 5 North might look wider, but there are no plans to expand that road or add turn lanes there as part of the current project, Burns says.
The total length of the Highway 5 North and 178 project is 16.6 miles and is estimated to cost $4 million. The project to resurface Highway 5 South and make safety improvements there is estimated to cost $10.4 million and will cover 19.5 miles.
Burns says he’s optimistic that Mountain Home motorists will be happy with both projects once they are completed.
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ARDOT has a third planned project for Baxter County scheduled to begin later this year. That project will include resurfacing Highway 62/412 through Gassville towards Flippin. That project is being handled by the contractor resurfacing Highway 5 North and is estimated to begin this summer, once the Highway 5 work is completed.
The City of Mountain Home is also working on several street projects around town at the moment.
Assistant Street Department director Scott Manchester said crews are currently pouring sidewalks and curbs along Burnett Drive after widening that road to three lanes from Bucher Drive to Buttercup Drive. The city recently completed its in-house work on Medical Plaza Drive and is currently waiting for the contractor to blacktop that street.
Crews are finishing up street work along Thorn Street, Manchester says. City crews have completed sidewalks and curbs there on Thorn and are addressing a few draining issues, and should have that street ready to pave by the middle of next week.
Market Street from N. College Street to Highway 62 is being paved, Manchester says. That stretch of street was ready to be paved late last year but the contractor had a scheduling conflict and was unable to work on the project at that time.
Paving continues along Gentry Street, which runs behind the Twin Lakes Plaza shopping center and connects Thorn Street, Market Street and Coley Drive.
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