The City of Magnolia has embarked on one of the most aggressive street paving and resurfacing programs in recent history. Mayor Parnell Vann reported that the Magnolia Street Department has a goal of resurfacing at least 25 miles of city streets, but that the total could possibly go up to as much as 30 miles under the right conditions.
“I don’t believe we’ve seen a paving and resurfacing program of this magnitude in at least the past 40 years, or maybe even longer,” Mayor Vann stated. “A lot of planning went into this project, and we saved as much money as we could before starting it. Each ward in the city will get an equal amount of paving when the project is completed,” he explained.
Though the resurfacing plan includes an equal number of miles in each ward, some of the most heavily traveled streets in town are in the process of receiving new surfaces. Dudney Street north of Greene has been repaved, and E. Columbia from N. Jackson to Dudney has also received a fresh coat of asphalt. These two streets are among the most heavily traveled in town and were long overdue for a coating of fresh asphalt. “Everybody in town uses these streets,” Vann said.
Contractors have scheduled a tentative timetable of three months to complete the project, the mayor said. “They’ve been working for about two weeks now, but had to pull out temporarily due to the heavy rain we received last week and a commitment to another project. They will return shortly, and will work toward completion when the weather allows, which means when it doesn’t rain and the temperature is above 40 degrees.”
City crews have been working on N. Dudney by smoking sewer lines ahead of the project, the Mayor explained. “Just in case there was a leak, we want to be proactive and make sure we find it ahead of any resurfacing. We wouldn’t want to have to dig up the pavement we just laid down.”
After the mayor took office in 2011, the City of Magnolia received a grant of $500,000 from the State of Arkansas, which set a record at the time and caused the state to place a limit on that particular grant. The city resurfaced 7-8 miles of city streets that year. The city still receives state turn back funds on the half-cent state sales tax increase in 2013. That money, combined with $1.5 million in savings the city made over the past few years, has allowed the city to proceed with the $3 million resurfacing plan.
“Roads and sidewalks are always going to wear out, and we need good infrastructure to prepare for the future. No one will look at us if we don’t have good roads and other infrastructure, I can tell you that,” the mayor concluded.