2009-07-01-R (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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. a CITY OF BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS RESOLUTION NUMBER 001-1-1,(Z • REQUESTING CONSTRUCTION OF AND DESIGNATING PRIORITIES FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO U.S. HIGHWAY 167 WHEREAS, a second U.S. 167 Highway White River crossing is needed to alleviate an unacceptable public safety risk as a result of truck rollovers on Ramsey Mountain, which often block all traffic into and out of Batesville for hours, resulting in life threatening situations in medical emergencies, and WHEREAS, in February, 2009 the Batesville CityC uncil adopted a new Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the City of Batesville which include the Proposed Batesville Expressway (Bypass) project, and WHEREAS, in 2008 the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department completed a study titled The Batesville Bypass Feasibility Study which determined that "the need for an • alternate route around Batesville exists to allow proper mobility for through traffic, especially large trucks", but the Director has not been authorized to proceed, and WHEREAS, job retention and creation in our primary industries of manufacturing, poultry and cattle production, timber, agriculture, limestone and sand operations, are all heavily dependant on trucking, and will be greatly enhanced by sufficient highway infrastructure and additional improvements to U. S. Highway 167, and i WHEREAS, Batesville is the "launch pad" for Ozark Gateway Tourism in north central Arkansas, and continued improvements to U. S. Highway 167 are essential in growing tourism dollars for the Ozark Gateway Tourism Counties of north central Arkansas including Independence, Sharp, Stone, Izard, Fulton, Jackson, Randolph and Lawrence Counties, and WHEREAS, continued improvements to U. S. Highway 167 are essential to area health agencies in providing improved access to health care for rural areas of North Arkansas, and