Mulberry River Hwy 23 Bridge!!!!

[Lupe]

I haven't seen this mentioned, but apparently the hwy dept is planning (or considering?) replacing the Hwy 23 bridge at the Turner Bend Campground. There is a public meeting at CASS job corps gym on THURSDAY, Aug 8 from 4 to 7pm. You can go to the Turner Bend Facebook page for more information, as that's about all I've got on the subject! I hope some of our paddlers over in that neck of the woods can make it out there and let us know what's going on and support our friends at Turner Bend!

[Lupe]

Apparently there's an article about this in the Democrat Gazette but I can't access it.

There's real concern that this could put Turner Bend out of business. I don't really know many details, but I hope some of our members over by the Mulberry can attend the hearing tonight and get more information and keep us posted!

If anyone can read through the newspaper article,maybe post the highlights...

[prophet]

as i understand it, the current plan has 3 options for a new bridge
one just downstream of current bridge, one right thru campground and one just behind/thru back boundary of campground.

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

The newspaper only provided notice of the public meeting and did not give any information about the new bridge location. I'm sure a provision will be made to access local businesses; whether or not any part of the Turner's Bend campground is lost or relocated remains to be seen. Also unknown is whether or not a public access will be constructed as part of the bridge project.

Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[Cowper]

I'm sorry I'm out of state and can't make the meeting. Whatever plan they are pushing needs to make Brad happy. If it doesn't then we'll all get a chance to show how much we appreciate everything TB has done over the years. And I suspect some support can also be rallied from hunters, fishermen, bike riders and other groups that TB has hosted. We all need TB, new bridge... I'm not convinced I care at all about that!

[Half Ton]

Paper mentioned 3 new locations potentially. one bridge where store and acces currently are located, one where the campground is, and one downstream from store which would cause a hwy 23 reroute.

Reasons cited were 1) bridge requires inspection each year rather than every other year because of the metal portion, and (2 it does not mesh well with moder vehicles. I.e. bridge is 20 ft wide and new ones are 30 ft,

The bridge is NOT structurally deficient.

Seems like there are better ways for AHTD funds to be spent, and that the scenic highway is not being respected.

The paper also included a taunt. " The opponents are welcome to pay for the extra maintenance checks"

The whole thing is silly now, but in time it may be unavoidable regardless.

[Cowper]

Ha! Like the cost of doing one extra inspection every other year for the next 100 years wouldn't be cheaper than the cost of building a new bridge! We should thank them for presenting the taxpayers with a much more cost-efficient option!

[Louiscov]

Wow, by wild coincidence I will be driving up Hwy 23 mid-afternoon Thursday on the way to the Eureka Springs triathlon and will be SURE to stop for some of the public meeting. Been a customer of Brad for 20 years and it'd be a pleasure to stand up for what he means to us all. Any info I need to know please post here or email.

[Lupe]

That's great, Louis. All I know is what I posted - Cass Job Corps gym which you know is just north of TB on 23. I'm sure if you stop in at TB they will be able to direct you and give you more info. I look forward to hearing your report back on what you find out, and what a happy coincidence that you will actually be in the area tomorrow!

[Liz Caldwell]

There's another story in today's (Aug. DG page 4B. Sure would hate to see anything happen to the jewel we have there at Turner Bend. Public hearing is 4p tonight at the Cass Jobs Corps Center on Ark 23.

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

Today's Democrat-Gazette article says the three options being considered are

1) locating the new bridge upstream of the existing bridge, which would mean the highway will be shifted toward the steps access. The shift would begin at an unknown distance back from the river; the width of the shift in the area of the store is not known without looking at the plans that will be presented at the public hearing. Also unknown is whether or not the new section of road will be higher than the present road; if it is higher, a lot more real estate width will be needed to construct the supporting earth embankment. The amount of ground width needed can be reduced if retaining walls are built to support the embankment. The new width of highway right of way needed for this option will be shown on the plans at the hearing, along with the outline of the Turner Bend store building, so you will be able to see exactly what the effect of this option would be.

2) locating the new bridge just downstream of the present bridge. This option will place a tall earth embankment through the campground area on the west side of the highway. The bottom width of the embankment required may occupy most of the campground and should be shown on the plans.

3) locating the bridge far enough downstream of the existing bridge to avoid having the new embankment footprint overlap the campground.

The process of deciding whether or not to improve a section of highway relies in part with the District Engineer who is familiar with how much of a headache any certain section of highway in his district has been to maintain over the years, familiar with how many accidents have been occurring there, etc. Maintenance costs may include repairing landslides, removing fallen trees, replacing guardrail damaged by crashes, sand and salt application, and driving surface deterioration. I'll have to say that during my 30 years with the Highway Department, aesthetics was at the bottom of the list of considerations because of the cost. Little money was spent to pretty up highways; the focus was on creating reliable ways for travelling and hauling freight across the state. Unless you want your taxes to be higher, that's the way the priorities need to be. I love tree shrouded, winding back roads and old truss bridges, but tight budgets can't be ignored. Oh, I almost forgot: having a highway go through the middle of the campground has made me nervous in the past while I was in my tent and while crossing the road.

Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[GN YAKN]

If folks are inclined to make written comments I have the following suggestion.

On the form I received in the mail there was a question that said something like, ....

Are you aware of any culturally, historically or archaeologically significant areas or artifacts in the locations affected?

Duh! Turner Bend!!! I would think that Turner Bend being a destination for people traveling from every contiguous state, plus more, to be in the Arkansas Ozarks might qualify as culturally, historically AND archaeologically significant.

Turner Bend recently celebrated 100 years of operations as a local general store and tourist campground. Pretty significant if you ask me!

Might be something for folks to think about including in their comments.

I am very, very disappointed that Brad Wimberly, proprietor of Turner Bend for the last 31 years had to find out about the Highway Department plans by chance and was not formally notified by someone from the Highway Department, the Parks and Tourism Department or maybe even the Governor's office.

After all that Brad has done for tourism and for the local economy in the Mulberry River valley I think he deserves better treatment.

My hope is that the powers that be will move to keep Highway 23 a scenic highway for tourism and quit worrying about straightening out curves and making bridges wider so that traffic can move through faster! Hell, slow down!!! and enjoy being there, dangit!

Dave

[Half Ton]

Well said Dave Robertson.

[Yarbrough]

Is this the same Hwy dept that sold us the idea of higher taxes and bonds to build 540 so that the pig trail would remain the pig trail?

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

The average daily traffic count over the bridge was 830 in 2009, the last year tabulated by the Highway Department (http://www.arkansashighways.com/plannin ... ANKLIN.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

Assuming the count is 1000 vehicles per day in 2013, that makes 365,000 travelers who would benefit from an improved highway in one year.

Unfortunately, paddlers and campers probably don't number anywhere near the total road user count. Don't give up hope that Turner Bend will continue to thrive, just that it may experience some changes. Lots of Highway employees have used the campsite and store over the years and are aware of how great a place the area is. I expect the AHTD will try extremely hard to preserve the present usage. Heck, they wouldn't be holding a public hearing unless they had concerns about the upcoming changes.

Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve