Entry Drive
When the new Ouachita entrance is completed, visitors (and those of us who have been here many years) will see our campus in a whole new way. Phase 1 of this project, to bring the entry drive from Highway 7 to 8th Street, has been completed. Phase 2 will be completed later and will continue past the new residential village, bordering the western edge of Ouachita's campus. As a result of this project, North 8th Street has been renamed Elrod Boulevard.
March 12: Ben and Betty Elrod Boulevard was dedicated today. Read more about the dedication here. The drive is everything we expected it to be and more!
February 20: Work is wrapping up on the entry drive and we plan to open it on March 20. The signage needs to be completed, the last section of street poured and landscaping put in place. Pray for dry weather!
January 21: The drive is substantially complete now - only a few feet remain to be poured to connect the drive to Highway 7. That section will be left for now until brick masons can complete the signage. Trees have been installed in the median, irrigation is almost complete and sodding has started. We're working toward a March 1 completion date.
December 22: The road is approximately 2/3 complete. Weather has been a major obstacle with every step of this project. The crepe myrtles and banners should be in by the end of January and the entry signs should be complete by then as well.
November 21: This week, contractors began pouring the curbing. Also, the light fixtures are now in place. We're making great progress now.
September 19: More rain slowed this project again - wet dirt is difficult to work! The drive is really starting to take shape now. We're closer to having both ends of the road ready now.
8th Street end Highway 7 end
These photos give an idea of what the drive along the entrance will look like.
August 29: After two weeks of wet ground, work resumed this week on the entrance. The site contractor continued refining the east end of the drive (closest to 8th Street) and has installed the culverts needed to bring the road all the way to 8th Street. That step should be completed next week and the west end (nearest 10th Street) completed the following week. That should allow the concrete contractor to begin work by mid-September (weather permitting of course).
Culvert below, near 8th Street View from 8th Street (contrast to Aug. 1 pic)
August 15: Progress has continued on the entrance as the contractor continues to refine the site. We had our first significant delay due to weather. Approximately 8" of rain fell in the Arkadelphia area over three days, which has brought work to a halt in this area for the last week. Weather permitting, they will be back at work on Monday.
August 1: The entrance project is at a point at which progress is difficult to detect. Our contractor has dumptrucks rolling all day, every day. In fact, they have moved around 30,000 yards of dirt so far! If you look at the site though, all you can really tell is the hole has gotten bigger. We're almost finished with this phase of the work though.
From 8th Street (that stake on top of the dirt pile is the center of the entry road)
July 25: Site work continued this week. We've had great weather for moving dirt this month (but terrible weather for everything else). The road bed is almost at the proper grade now. It still needs to be lowered about 6" and those mounds in the middle removed. This view is from the middle of the road bed near Sully Anderson Field bleachers, looking back toward Highway 7.
July 18: Much of the dirtwork has been completed. The dirt removal has created somewhat of a valley (see photo). If you close your eyes, you can almost see yourself driving through that valley with Crepe Myrtles in full bloom along the road and just a glimpse of athletic fields off to the left. By the way, those mounds in the photo mark the centerline of the road. Dirtwork is expected to be complete within 2-3 weeks.
Entrance sitework
From Highway 7 Looking toward 8th Street