Way to Go, Mayor Womack!

I attended the annual business luncheon last Friday (Jan. 18) at the John Q. Hammonds Convention Center in Rogers, sponsored by the Center for Business and Economic Research of the U of A (more on this in a future post).

As I zipped up I-540 from Fayetteville I made good time, since it was before mid-day. But then I arrived at the Pinnacle Hills Parkway exit. Cars were backed up at a standstill so that it took almost 1/2 hour to go from where the northbound exit ramp leaves I-540, under the freeway to where the newly widened street turns left onto Pinnacle Hills Parkway. The way the stoplights were adjusted, only a few cars could turn left at each light, so that there were even more cars behind me still "parked" not only on the exit ramp, but a good ways down the freeway.

As I arrived at the intersection to make a left turn onto Pinnacle Hills, a gentleman in a black overcoat entered the scene and began directing traffic. He blocked part of the traffic going south on Pinnacle Hills so that people from the freeway exit turning left to get to the meeting could proceed more smoothly. With more than 1,000 business people in attendance, the traffic bottleneck made a lot of them late. I did get there on time, but just barely. As I was leaving, I chatted with another person from the luncheon who told me that the man directing traffic was Rogers' Mayor Steve Womack and that he did "stuff like that" from time to time.

I applaud Mayor Womack's initiative in taking charge of the situation and making sure business people got to this important annual economic event (if it was him--I'm not sure since I have never met him personally). But the incident points out the continuing problem of infrastructure keeping up with growth in NW Arkansas, particularly with regard to transportation.

Following are a few updates on various transportation/infrastructure projects for NW Arkansas:

The exit for Pinnacle Hills Promenade Mall is open from northbound I-540 but the overpass to the west side of I-540 and the exit from southbound I-540 are not. If the overpass had been finished, the traffic delay I encountered would probably not have happened.

In southwest Rogers, work is under way on Pauline Whitaker Parkway, a north-south street that will connect with the Promenade interchange on the west side of I-540, providing access to the new Mercy Medical Center, which will open in March. According to the current timetable, the road should be completed in May.

Several other north-south road improvements will soon be open in Rogers.

Bentonville is also busy widening roads, improving interchanges, installing drains, and working on concepts for future projects. As hard as the city works, it’s almost impossible to keep up with the need for more infrastructure.

One bright spot is the cities of Rogers and Bentonville partnering on some projects that affect both.

Bella Vista will, unfortunately, have to struggle with its traffic bottleneck long into the future. U.S. Hwy. 71 carries all interstate traffic right through the middle of town. A bypass connecting Arkansas and Missouri has been studied for years but now seems dead in the water. The latest estimates show a $139 million shortfall between construction cost and projected income from tolls. That report caused Missouri to reassign the funds they were planning to spend for their portion of the connector.

Springdale is going full speed ahead on three east-west corridors to relieve traffic on U.S. Hwy. 412. The city and voters alike are to be commended for their foresight and planning. Voters approved a 1% sales tax in 2003 to back $105 million in bonds and the city has been constructing roads non-stop. In light of ever-increasing inflation and growth, that vote was a good move.

In November 2007, the first section of the southern corridor between 40th and 48th streets opened. When complete in spring of 2009 the southern corridor will run from 48th Street to Butterfield Coach Road, which is currently the eastern edge of the city limits.

The northern corridor, which is located near Wagon Wheel Road, is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2009.

Portions of the central corridor have been complete for some time. The phase that will connect Hwy. 71B to Old Missouri Road is scheduled to finish in November 2008. The third phase of the central corridor that will connect Emma Avenue to Robinson Avenue on the eastern side of the city is scheduled to be complete in May 2009.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department opened a new, wider 6-mile section of U.S. 412 near Hindsville. If and when all the planned improvements are made to U.S. 412, it will be a 4-lane highway from the Oklahoma border east to Huntsville. The state is also planning to widen a 1.6-mile stretch of Old Wire Road in Springdale from Randall Wobbe Lane north to Arkansas 264. No work is evident here yet.

Fayetteville is also busy improving roads but perhaps not on the same scale as some of the other cities. Portions of Wedington Drive are being widened and, it seems to me, moving along at a good pace. As I recall, it took some five years to widen about three miles of Hwy. 265 so I am impressed with the progress I see on Wedington.

And on the subject of Hwy. 265, Fayetteville has been notified by the state transportation department that it wants to proceed with widening that highway from Mission Boulevard north to Joyce Boulevard. Earlier plans had called for a 4-lane highway north to the Springdale city limit but inflation caused those plans to be scrapped.

Meanwhile, plans for public transportation on a major scale are sorely lacking. Ozark Regional Transportation provides some bus service on fixed routes in Fayetteville and Springdale. A few routes in Rogers and Bentonville are scheduled for this year. Sadly, a route from Springdale to Lowell to Rogers was canceled recently due to lack of funding.

Razorback Transit at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville provides free bus service for the area around the campus and to the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

It seems to me that serious consideration must be given to improving public transportation on a regional scale (think light rail or funding for a beefed-up bus system). I don’t pretend to be a planning engineer but I do know congestion, traffic delays, and gridlock when I see it. Every once in a while I hear “light rail” being tossed around but I haven’t see any firm projections.

For more information:

http://www.bentonvillear.com/docs/street/street_newsletter_120107.pdf
http://www.rogersarkansas.com/planning/2010Bond.asp
http://www.nwarktimes.com/brog/News/55678/
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/National/201929/print/
http://www.joplinindependent.com/display_article.php/l-marble1192477593
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/12/05/news/120607sz412eupdate.txt
http://www.ozark.org/RidingORT/home.html

Roads Must be Improved ASAP

Everyone says NW Arkansas is a wonderful place to live – until they are stuck in the traffic during the daily commute to and from work. At those times of day, most people agree gridlock is not desirable.

Even mid-day, traffic can sometimes be insufferable. The intersection of Joyce Boulevard and North College Avenue in Fayetteville is either the busiest or second-busiest intersection (depending on which statistics you read) in the entire state of Arkansas!

U.S. Highway 412, the main road to Tulsa, runs east-west through Springdale and carries an immense amount of 18-wheelers mixed in with passenger vehicles. It seems there are traffic lights every block or two.

Walton Boulevard in Bentonville resembles a parking lot during the daily commute and lunchtime isn’t much better.

Something must be done to construct/improve/widen roads without further delay.

Many local highways that carry heavy traffic are two-lane roads, turning and twisting through the countryside. If you enjoy a leisurely drive, the roads are beautiful. But if you are trying to get somewhere in a timely manner, that trip can be slow and stressful. Time and money are wasted minute-by-minute and mile-by-mile.

The problem isn’t that the powers-that-be haven’t realized something has to be done. It’s more a problem of money, of course, and location.

Nearly everyone wants the improvements but very few want them in their own backyard.

Springdale has been in lengthy discussions about widening Wagon Wheel Road from Hwy. 71B to I-540. Should it be four lanes with a tree-lined boulevard or five lanes including a left turn lane?

The answer depends on where you live. The commuter wants roads where they will improve his trip. The farmer wants to be able to move his slow-moving equipment from one area to another. Folks in the new subdivisions want aesthetically pleasing surroundings - not sounds of the freeway next door.

Fayetteville is considering widening Mission Boulevard, Township, North, Zion and Hwy. 16 to Elkins and more. These roads wind through neighborhoods crisscrossing the city.

I fear the same fate awaits these projects as befell a similar proposal several years ago when Township Road was proposed as a wider "artery" street. Neighbors vehemently opposed it and the proposal died.

We can play ostrich by burying our heads in the sand or we can face reality. Growth is here and more is on the way. Growth is inevitable and necessary if the area is to continue thriving.

Let’s wake up and smell the exhaust fumes. We will soon be in total gridlock if we don’t take steps to improve the infrastructure. We must prepare!

The City of Springdale deserves commendation for their proactive approach to traffic. They are currently building east-west corridors to help alleviate the strain on U.S. Hwy. 412.

Also on the drawing board is the U.S. 412 bypass. Plans call for Hwy. 412 to go north from west of Tontitown, continue north of Springdale, and then turn south to rejoin Hwy. 412 east of the Springdale city limits. Cost estimates for the bypass are currently in the neighborhood of $350 million. However, no one dares guess when it might actually be built and inflation drives up the cost every month.

For more information:

http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg§ion=News&storyid=180296

http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat§ion=News&storyid=50024

Good News/Bad News for the Springdale Northern Bypass

The U.S. 412 bypass of Springdale has received a record of decision from the Federal Highway Administration. Now all that needs to be done is to figure out how to pay for it! The estimated cost currently stands at some $300 million with only $31 million in combined federal and state funds earmarked for the 20-mile highway.

Ten years have passed since a study of alternatives for the bypass began in 1996 and it will be many more years before it is even partially constructed. With the escalating price of land in the area it seems obvious that costs will only go one way – up. “This project has to have federal money,” said John McLarty, transportation planner for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. “It’s just too big.”

Highway 412 is a major east-west route through Springdale for traffic coming to and from Tulsa area as well as off Interstate 540. No one argues the need for the bypass, which is expected to channel much of the truck traffic around the city. However, it appears the bypass will have to be built in segments, as funding becomes available. It may take until the year 2030 before the road nears completion.

As I mentioned in my posting March 6, “A Western By-Pass? Great Idea!” (scroll down to read the article) other roads are being planned to alleviate gridlock in Northwest Arkansas, but the 412 bypass is scheduled to come first. We must find a way to get moving on all these projects, the sooner the better.

For more information:http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/147680/

A Western By-Pass? Great Idea!

Planners and elected officials in Northwest Arkansas are eyeing a four-lane highway to cut through western Benton and Washington counties and avoid additional gridlock on Interstate 540. It doesn’t have an exact location, nor money to pay for it--yet.

The Northwest Arkansas Council, which includes some of the region’s wealthiest and most influential people, has placed the proposed highway on its list of road projects it deems important to the region’s future. And a committee of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission has included the highway, known as the western bypass, in the draft of a 2030 long-range transportation plan the commission will hand over to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department next month.

The proposed highway wouldn’t be constructed until after a western bypass of the Bella Vista stretch of I-540 and a U.S. 412 bypass north of Springdale are completed, according to John McLarty, the transportation planner for the regional planning commission. “But it’s not too early to begin planning the road.”

The western freeway is a great idea, and it’s encouraging to note that planners are starting to think in longer terms. It takes years to go from identifying the need to completing the project, and it is essential to get this project in place while there is still sufficient, undeveloped land available. The 412 bypass has been delayed again and again by impact studies while the areas where the original three proposed routes might have been built have been filled up with new homes. And since the 412 bypass won’t be built for many years due to funding deficits, maybe these planners can begin getting their proposal to legislators so that when the project is ready, the funding will be there.

In the meantime, there will have to be improvements and additions to I-540. Twenty-five years is a long time for the western bypass to become a reality. But knowing that planners are even thinking about it is a start.

For more information: http://nwanews.com/adg/News/147123/

Architects studying possibility of light rail in Northwest Arkansas

Studies through the University of Arkansas School of Architecture are being conducted to research how a light rail system might alter development in Northwest Arkansas. Teams have recently studied the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, and the possibility of establishing a light rail system in the Washington, D. C. area.

A concept posed in the past for NW Arkansas would traverse 41.27 miles of rail with about 10 stations along the Interstate 540 corridor and a loop to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. Buses could be used to tie more immediate areas to the rail, and high-occupancy lanes could be established along the interstate.

NW Arkansas needs something like this and needs it fast. Rush hour traffic is horrendous and daytime traffic is not too much better. Studies indicate that approximately 1000 additional people move to this area every month. Unfortunately, the infrastructure isn’t keeping up. Some sort of public transportation system is needed to alleviate the congestion on our roads.

Source: Northwest Arkansas Times, February 12, 2006