Springdale Dedicates Don Tyson Parkway

Last updated Monday, June 30, 2008 7:21 PM CDT in News

By Steve Caraway
THE MORNING NEWS

    SPRINGDALE -- Oaklawn Avenue was a dirt road when Tyson Foods built its headquarters off Johnson Road.

    Monday, the former dirt road became part of Don Tyson Parkway, honoring the longtime head of the company.

    The parkway, still under construction, is a four-lane boulevard that eventually will connect 48th Street by Interstate 540 with U.S. 412 near Sonora.

    The parkway is one of three east-west corridors under construction through the city as part of the city's Street Bond Program. Traffic congestion along major city streets created the need for the street construction program.

    Tyson was honored for his philanthropy, which led to two Springdale schools and a park bearing his family's name.

    "So many times Don Tyson helped us and asked us not to let anyone know," said Mayor Jerre Van Hoose. "What he has done has made life better for everyone in the city, in Northwest Arkansas and the state."

    Streets in Springdale have come a long way since Tyson moved to the city, he said.

    "If I wanted to ride my bicycle to Sonora, (U.S.) 412 was gravel outside the city limits," Tyson said.

    The city sold $105 million in bonds for the program, but estimations have pushed the cost higher, according to Van Hoose.

    The City Council decided to set aside $25 million to cover cost overruns, Van Hoose said, but the need may be reduced to $1 million to $2 million. Rising prices on crude oil pushed asphalt prices up for a while, Van Hoose said.

    Springdale is creating an effective street grid off the highway system, said Jonathan Barnett, the chairman of the Arkansas State Highway Commission.

    Springdale also is partnering with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to speed up highway projects, said Frank Vozel, the deputy director of the department. The partnership includes widening of Old Missouri Road, also known as Arkansas 265, south of U.S. 412, relocating and expanding Old Missouri Road north of Randall Wobbe Lane and widening Johnson Road from U.S. 412 south and west through Johnson to I-540.

    The section of Don Tyson Parkway from Johnson Road to Cambridge Street will be open after Monday. The remaining section, from Carley Road to South Thompson Street, also known as U.S. 71B, could be open by September, according to Tom Webb, the project manager for the city.

    The section of the parkway was scheduled to open in March.

    Reader Comments (10 comment(s))


    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.

    amazed wrote on Jul 1, 2008 6:37 AM:

    " Springdale needs this shot in the arm. Despite the widening of Huntsville Road which needed to be done a long time ago, they are thinking ahead for the future with this road and Wagon Wheel. Something the state needs to do..think ahead "

    loinsp wrote on Jul 1, 2008 7:01 AM:

    " I agree that these corridors are needed to carry the East-West traffic, but how many more years will Huntsville Street and the cross streets along this route be torn up and unable to use.
    You just take your chances about where you can cross Huntsville East of Thompson now. About time some section of this street was completed before they tear up another three miles of it. "

    UAfootball wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:22 AM:

    " meanwhile Fayetteville still ponders how to get traffic from I-540 to Joyce.......... "

    sovereignty wrote on Jul 1, 2008 11:26 AM:

    " lets name the road "illegal aliens blvd". "

    ProudVetHogFan wrote on Jul 1, 2008 11:31 AM:

    " I am with you SOVEREIGNTY, it seems ironic to me that the city would name anything after the person or organization that (in my opinion) has single handedly ruined the city by harboring and employing illegal immigrants. Just goes to show the real attitude of the city leaders...You got money, we will give you anything. And all at the expense of the little man. "

    jean-fer wrote on Jul 2, 2008 2:14 PM:

    " I think naming the street that is a little bit of an exagerration. Yes, Tyson has employed their share of illegals, but hey, plenty of other companies have done the same. Tyson has plenty of U.S. citizens working for them. Why does everything have to go back to the whole "illegal" thing??? Gees... i bet you two wouldn't have said a thing if it was named after Martin Luther King just like every other city in America. Give me a break "

    sovereignty wrote on Jul 2, 2008 6:32 PM:

    " to jean-fer: MLK, while i think him a womanizer and a fallen man in many ways, was at least trying to gain the rights for his people that they deserved based on our US Constitution. had i been a black man back then i too would have peaceably demonstrated and demanded my rights. were i a black man today i would be demonstrating on washington too, this time demanding that the "white-devils" who run this country stop allowing tens of millions of illegal aliens to flood/invade this country. the illegals have harmed the black community as much or more than society as a whole. some black elected leaders are starting to see that. anyway, i am like ProudVetHogFan, we as a society elevate and honor the powerful and the wealthy amongst us who all too often are the ones who are in fact harming us. the fact that others have also hired illegals is not a defense. i will only say this, if one of your loved ones were harmed by an illegal and you could prove that a certain person/company helped them get here, hired them, protected them, etc, would you be so eager then to defend that person/company? "

    lifer66 wrote on Jul 3, 2008 2:12 AM:

    " While many companies employ and encourage illegal aliens, Tyson started the whole thing in this area. You could say they are the Wright brothers of the modern-day slave trade,the Alexander Graham Bell of the cultural terrorism we now face. "

    sovereignty wrote on Jul 3, 2008 5:49 PM:

    " the pics i have seen of the tyson business in the far past showed virtually all white females on the production lines. what happened? did it get to the point they could go elsewhere and make more so the incentive was to get illegals to do the work? pay me what the work is worth and i will do it, especially if nothing else is available. what if we decided to ship the tyson people south like we have much of gm, chrysler, ford, etc? why ship there people into here? let the chicken/meat production be south of the border. we would all be alot safer. i wouldnt cross the street to shake the mans hand due to what he has allowed to happen, even if he did not start/encourage it. he had to know... "

    Fayetteville wrote on Jul 6, 2008 3:24 PM:

    " Re: Sovereignty

    You don't really think "white devils" dictate what happens in the U.S. do you?

    :rolleyes

    Oy vey..... "


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