City Council OKs US 71 traffic study

Bella Vista is going to pay for a traffic study in an effort to improve traffic flow on U.S. Highway 71 at McNelly Road.

Aldermen's agreement to pay for the study came Monday night during the City Council meeting.

The also agreed to purchase two new police vehicles and three trucks for Community Development Services, revise the employee handbook and accept the resignation of Alderman Larry Wilson.

The traffic study, to be performed by Traffic Engineering Consultants, will aim to figure out what is causing the congestion around the intersection of McNelly Road (also known as Benton County Road 40) and U.S. Highway 71, then adjust the light's timing. The control box for the lights is in Bella Vista and the light is in the county, but years ago Bentonville agreed to maintain the light.

"This is not a silver bullet," Mayor Peter Christie said. "This will not fix the congestion down at Benton County 40. Bella Vista alone generates 20,000 car trips a day." On average, a total of 40,000 vehicles pass through the intersection.

The light is currently Bentonville's responsibility, he said, but it would be in Bella Vista's best interest to assume control of it for a handful of reasons.

To start, he said, this would allow the city to synchronize it with the other lights that are in Bella Vista, which could help to improve traffic flow.

Moreover, Bentonville isn't likely to put this light very high on its priority list, meaning it will see less maintenance.

Additionally, when the Missouri portion of the Bella Vista bypass is complete and the roundabout is replaced with the final interchange, that interchange will include a traffic signal. If Bella Vista is in charge of the light at Benton County 40, he said, the city will be in a position to ensure the lights work together.

"I believe this is in the best interest of our residents, who bear the main brunt of the congestion," Christie said.

Alderman and former Mayor Frank Anderson said that, while this may not solve the issue completely, it could improve the flow of traffic.

"This is not a one-time thing," Anderson said.

It's important, he said, to keep that in mind. It isn't uncommon for a city to make adjustments regularly, he said -- Bentonville adjusts the timing on lights in its major intersections annually, for example.

Chris Suneson, director of Community Development Services, said that the study would start by simply observing and performing a baseline to see how traffic is flowing and conducting an inventory of the intersection's hardware.

From there, he said, the firm will drive up and down the highway to observe the light from a driver's point of view.

A model will be put together to get a better understanding, he said, and the firm will work on generating timing setups for different times of day, including peak hours in the morning and evenings, as well as normal weekday hours and weekends.

This timing, he said, will be tested in the field and adjusted until the firm can reach the best possible configuration. Once that's finished, the firm will perform another study to determine the change's impact.

After the motion to accept alderman Wilson's resignation from Ward 3 Position 2, Christie discussed the need to fill his seat. The city, he said, has the option to appoint or to put up an election. Appointing would be his preference.

In this case, he said, interested individuals who live within Ward 3 may submit a resume to City Clerk Wayne Jertson. Jertson's email address is [email protected].

Applicants, Christie said, will be interviewed in open session by the council, and the general public will be able to attend these interviews, which will provide residents with an opportunity to see the candidates.

The council approved the purchase of two new Dodge Chargers for the Police Department, one of which is to provide a squad car to the new officer that will be hired at the beginning of the year, he said. The other will replace a car that was wrecked -- but fortunately, he said, nobody was hurt.

The three trucks for Community Development Services will be replacing two aging trucks in its fleet and providing a vehicle for the new code enforcement officer that will be hired next year.

Revisions to the city's employee handbook were approved unanimously, though alderman Doug Fowler said that he would like to revisit them soon, particularly in regards to the scope of policies against city employees dating managers, even of different departments, as well as the dress code.

Christie closed the meeting by bidding farewell to alderman Becky Morgan, who did not run for re-election in Ward 1 Position 1.

"Lastly, Becky, it's time to say farewell. Thank you very much for four years," Christie said.

"It has been an extreme honor and privilege to serve the city of Bella Vista for the past four years," Morgan said.

General News on 12/21/2016