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STATE ROAD DEPARTMENT WANTS STAR CITY TO TAKE OVER PORTION OF HIGHWAY

By John Whipple/LINCOLN COUNTY CORRESPONDENT
Monday, September 15, 2008 9:43 AM CDT

STAR CITY — The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department wants Star City to take possession of a stretch of Arkansas 11B (South Jefferson Street) which runs right through the middle of town — and directly in front of City Hall.

This stretch of road in Star City — South Jefferson Street — is part of a stretch of Arkansas 118, for which the state Highway and Transportation Department wants Star City to assume responsibility. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

In fact, the state so wants the city to take over ownership maintenance costs of the stretch of road, six-tenths of a mile long, from Arkansas 11 near Wurls’ Best Taxidermy to the Town Square, that it has already done some preliminary legal work and sent the city a prepared resolution for the city council to pass accepting ownership of the road, which the state resolution calls “for the betterment of Star City.”

But as one might expect, neither Mayor Gene Yarbrough nor anyone on the six-member city council wants to take responsibility for the road, which would be expensive to maintain.

So Yarbrough, at the city council’s regular monthly meeting last week, pitched an alternative proposal to the aldermen in which the city would take the road — but only if the state takes some other city street in return.

“The state keeps wanting to give us this highway here in front of our building (city hall) and my thing is ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” Yarbrough said. “Really, it’s a state highway and we really, really don’t want it as a city street. They know it’s in bad shape and they haven’t maintained it … yet they want us to take it over.”

Yarbrough then told the council that he was serious, although they might think his proposal was a joke.

The mayor said he will ask the state Highway Commission to consider accepting an equal portion of road, West Dallas Street from U.S 425 to Floyd’s Chipmill, which is also six-tenths of a mile long, in exchange. He noted that the heavily traveled road was built with a state grant “years ago” under former Mayor Edwin Moss’ administration.

City Attorney Phillip Green reminded the officials that the state does have the power to simply “abandon” a road “and give to (the city) anyway.”

Undeterred, Yarbrough had another suggestion, which would have the state taking over 1.3 miles of Pine Street from Arkansas Street and then past the C&L building down to Church Street at U.S. 425, which he said would be an industrial bypass road to the chipmill.

The mayor said he will approach the Highway Commission as opposed to the Highway and Transportation Department because the commissioners often call upon local officials to support various tax or bond issues.

“I don’t think they would want to irritate all the mayors of these towns,” said Yarbrough.

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