To request a project, the Mayor must sign and submit a letter requesting a project to the Street Committee listing the streets, priority, length of the street, and type of work.
The Street Committee has adopted a rule limiting the amount of State Aid City Street funds to a maximum of $300,000 for overlay projects and $400,000 for design projects (such as a street widening or a bridge project). For a typical overlay project, this is about 1.3 to 1.8 miles of overlay. So in addition to any required matching funds, cities would be responsible for the costs above this cap or the scope of the project would need to be reduced.
The Street Committee has been approving funding for both overlay and design projects at their December meetings. The Committee typically meets in December and then in June.
State Law (27-72-414) requires that the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) handle the construction contracts. As a result the City cannot be reimbursed for doing the work or for hiring a contractor to do the work.
The Street Committee has adopted a rule allowing a city to submit a project request once each calendar year; however, please note that the Street Committee is giving priority to cities that haven’t previously been approved for a project. So if your city was recently approved for a project, the chances of being approved the following year are low.
No, the State Aid Division can design the project at no cost to the City or the City may elect to hire a consultant to design it in ArDOT’s format. However if the City hires a consultant, the City must pay 100% of the consultant’s costs. For design projects only, please note that the total amount of ArDOT’s engineering charges (the sum of the design and construction engineering) is capped at a maximum of $160,000 and the City would be responsible for the costs above this cap.
Ask your mayor to submit a request to the street committee
