City Receives $5 Million Grant for ‘Northside Safety for All’ Project

JONESBORO, Ark. – The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the City of Jonesboro a $5.09 million federal grant funding for improved safety projects along stretches of busy highways in Jonesboro. The amount includes a 25-percent match from the City.

The announcement comes on the heels of a grant of $500,000 from the Arkansas Department of Transportation for construction of a 1.55-mile, soft trail loop at Lacy Park with a boardwalk and a 150-foot access path.

The first portion of the Northside Safety for All project will provide sidepaths, crosswalk visibility enhancements, pedestrian hybrid beacons, two covered bus stops and ADA-compliant wheelchair ramps on a busy four-lane stretch of Arkansas 141 (North Main Street), where children account for much of the foot traffic.

The second is to install LED streetlights on an uncommonly dangerous, poorly lit section of E. Johnson Avenue – where pedestrians have been killed over the years and attempts to increase safety at crosswalks have proven insufficient.

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The stretch of E. Johnson connects Arkansas State University with downtown Jonesboro and is used by upward of 20,000 vehicles per day. AState Chancellor Todd Shields committed to partner with the City in the grant application last July.

“These are two stretches that I always worry about,” Mayor Harold Copenhaver said. “They are highways, which puts them under federal and state care, so I want to express my heartfelt gratefulness to A-State, to U.S. Sen. John Boozman as well as the Secretary of Transportation’s office in D.C.”

Copenhaver also complimented the City Grants Department, which he authorized to seek these grants because of the dangers present along N. Main by Parker Park, where children commonly cross the four lanes of speeding traffic, and the stretch of E. Johnson near State Street, where a fatality occurred this year when a truck hit an elderly woman in a crosswalk.

“Improved lighting dramatically improves safety of both drivers and pedestrians,” Copenhaver said. “And this stretch has a long history of accidents and even fatalities in Jonesboro. This will create needed change.”

The soft-surface trail grant includes a 20-percent City match and will be known as the “cross-country loop trail” for cross-country activities, bike riding and walking. The 1.55-mile loop with be 12 feet wide and connect to the Jonesboro Parks Department via a 150-foot access path off CWL Drive, which will connect Lacy Park to Joe Mack Campbell Park. Parking across the access point and soccer fields will be used for parking at Lacy Park.

The project was borne of a 2022 National Youth Mountain Bikers event attended by Copenhaver and Parks Director Danny Kapales. Copenhaver noted that a survey showed 47 percent of Jonesboro residents have been interested in new walking and biking accommodations.

“The people spoke and we listened,” Copenhaver said. “But some projects simply require funding beyond our tax receipts. I commend our grants, engineering and parks departments on this success.”

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