Increases in traffic caused by residential development in south Fort Smith, Arkansas led the City of Fort Smith to consider expanding Geren Road, a city collector street between Arkansas State Highway 45 and South 58 Street, that serves several residential subdivisions and a large scale apartment complex. Fort Smith selected Hawkins-Weir to prepare a conceptual design for its reconstruction that included a wider street section, a proposed route for a public multi-use trail, and identification of potential public and franchised utility conflicts.
The City of Fort Smith later expanded the scope of services for Hawkins-Weir to include preliminary and final design phases for the project. Improvements include the reconstruction of 5,200 linear-feet of street and widening to 38 feet to accommodate a continuous left-hand turning lane and construction of an adjacent 10 foot-wide, paved multi-use trail. Stormwater improvements will be designed to 25-year storm frequencies and include parallel and crossing drains along Geren Road and minor extensions into connecting side streets. The project also includes minor public utility relocations and coordination with franchised utilities for relocation of their transmission and distribution lines.