Crews work to complete the first phase of the Sain Street extension project in north Fayetteville on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. (Flyer photo)Officials are ready to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the Sain Street extension project.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 at the new roundabout on Sain Street near the University of Arkansas Uptown Campus. Speakers will include Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan and Chris Brown, the city’s public works director. After the event, the new stretch of road will be opened to traffic.
The project began in March 2021 as the first phase of a longterm plan to provide a direct connection from Joyce Boulevard to the Fulbright Expressway and Interstate 49.
The first phase of work included an extension of the existing roadway along Sain Street, which runs east from Front Street to Vantage Drive and connects to Joyce Boulevard. The road was previously a dead end near Panera Bread. As part of the connection, a roundabout was installed and a 320-foot bridge was constructed over Mud Creek.
The next phase of the project will connect Sain Street to Hemlock Avenue, which intersects with East Millsap Road.
That connection could become an integral piece of a possible plan to close Front Street’s intersection as part of a redesign of the Millsap Road intersection at College Avenue. An early draft plan shown in December suggested that Front Street become a dead end, and for traffic to instead use the new Hemlock connector to Sain Street.
(Map: Fayetteville Flyer)
