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A road closure for an improvement project on Zion Road has been extended another three weeks.

Zion was first closed between Vantage Drive and Old Missouri Road in May to allow crews to install a new sewer line under the existing roadway. The plan was to reopen the road to traffic at the end of June. Officials first extended the closure through July, but now said the road won’t be open until Aug. 20.

The contractor will use the time to install new sanitary sewer service crossings, new water main and water service crossings, and new storm drain infrastructure in the existing roadway and undercut for new roadway alignment adjacent to the existing roadway.

The improvements are designed to create an improved east-west connection between Highway 265 and College Avenue. The work includes widening the road to make room for a center turn lane, a six-foot sidewalk and a 10-foot bike trail. Also, a mini roundabout is proposed at the intersection of Zion and Old Missouri Road. Staff have said about 180 new street trees are set to be planted along both sides of Zion throughout the work area sometime near the end of the project.

The project was part of the 2019 transportation bond program, but had been on the back burner since the previous voter-approved bond in 2006. That program called for a full makeover of Zion from College Avenue to Crossover Road, but the work stopped at Vantage Drive when the money was instead reallocated to fund a series of other higher priority transportation projects around town when bid prices were reduced due to the recession.

Drivers are asked to use extreme caution when traveling in the work area, and to allow for extra travel time or consider an alternate route.

For more information, visit www.fayetteville-ar.gov/3586/Zion-Road-Improvements.

Zion Road Improvement Project

Source: City of Fayetteville