1072 replies to this topic

[zman9810]

zman9810, on 23 June 2011 - 08:31 PM, said:

Looks like the 5 cent diesel tax increase that I referred to in this post will not be on the ballot after all. The trucking association paid for a poll that told them there was little chance in it passing so they have asked the governor not to put it on the ballot. The truckers are also wanting to keep the sales tax exemption on trucks and trailers that was passed in the last legislative session. It was passed in a deal where the truckers would support the 5 cent tax increase in return for the exemption. It takes some nerve to expect to keep the exemption on one hand and the tax increase not be passed on the other. I don't know what the legislature was thinking when they passed that exemption before the money was in hand to replace it.

This sales tax exemption has not been repealed by the state legislature and is unlikely to be repealed before it goes effect this summer.

This development makes my argument for abolishing the highway commission weaker- if the legislature can't do the right thing on a small issue such as this then giving them more power over the state's highway and transportation department may not be a smart way to go. There has to be a better way............

[zman9810]

The State Highway Department has plans to start widening I540 to 6 lanes between MLK and Wedington in Fayetteville soon. Sounds like they plan to have it finished by fall just in time for the November election. This project is a great idea to promote the the sales tax increase by showing what can be done and give voters the incentive to vote yes. From what I have read the increase is having trouble gaining support but there is still time to turn that around. i still dislike the way transportation funding is handled in Arkansas but this may be the best chance to raise the funds needed to make major improvements.

[Mith242]

zman9810, on 09 May 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

The State Highway Department has plans to start widening I540 to 6 lanes between MLK and Wedington in Fayetteville soon. Sounds like they plan to have it finished by fall just in time for the November election. This project is a great idea to promote the the sales tax increase by showing what can be done and give voters the incentive to vote yes. From what I have read the increase is having trouble gaining support but there is still time to turn that around. i still dislike the way transportation funding is handled in Arkansas but this may be the best chance to raise the funds needed to make major improvements.

I just got back into town and was hearing about this.  Got to admit I'm a bit surprised.  I really expected that this wouldn't happen for quite a while.  I figured it was still a few years away to be honest.  I'm also surprised they're widening a section in Fayetteville first.  I thought they'd probably do a stretch up in Benton County first.  I agree with you on not being a big fan of how things are handled in the state.  I seem to recall hearing about the state also expanding some lanes of I-40 down in Conway.  I wonder if this is also being timed as the Fayetteville work.

[slyder1]

Call me crazy but what is the point of doing a freaking 1 mile section.  Seems like it will cause wrecks more than help.  People will think they are in a new lane that will go on for a while and then it suddenly ends again thus trying to merge back into traffic.  They should wait until they can at least do 3-5 miles.

[zman9810]

This is just the carot to get voters to approve the half cent sales tax increase- much like the start of adding lanes to I40 between Little Rock and Conway. I think it is a good idea and may just work. It will sure make people think about how great it would be to have all of I540 widened. Plus they already have the funds coming to redo the interchanges- this will just be the final step.

[Mith242]

Yeah overall I think it basically just allows the drivers entering I-540 in that area, more time to merge.  From what I recall of the study done years ago, I don't think it reccomended widening I-540 in all of Fayetteville.  The traffic counts only suggested part of it needed to be widened for now.  But I don't remember if it was just this stretch or if maybe it was to garland and they're only doing this section for now.  That same study had reccomended a lot larger stretch to be done in Benton County.  I imagine it was much easier to simply do this one section in Fayetteville.  Aside from widening the bridge that goes over the Porter Rd interchange, this seems a pretty easy straight forward section to widen.  Most of the other interchanges occur over the interstate not underneath it.  I think some of those interchanges could be a bit harder and more expensive to deal with.

[aerotive]

Half a cent is too much, they got greedy...if the transit and road increases pass, Fayetteville will have a 10% sales tax rate.  People will notice that and I think there will be pushback.

[zman9810]

Half a cent is a healthy increase but since the transit tax would only affect Washington County it may not have much impact on the statewide vote. I think the transit tax is in more serious trouble than even the road tax. ORT did a horrible job in making the case for it and left some people feeling like they had been deceived. I still don't understand the whole situation concerning the loss of federal funding and if there will even be a loss.

[aerotive]

I agree, at first it was sold as preserving service, now it's an expansion.  And expansion is fine but they confused things.  There should also be details about the expansion easily available...routes, fares, hours, frequencies etc.  Far as I know that doesnt exist in an accessible form.

[Mith242]

 Mith242, on 15 May 2012 - 04:12 PM, said:

Yeah overall I think it basically just allows the drivers entering I-540 in that area, more time to merge.  From what I recall of the study done years ago, I don't think it reccomended widening I-540 in all of Fayetteville.  The traffic counts only suggested part of it needed to be widened for now.  But I don't remember if it was just this stretch or if maybe it was to garland and they're only doing this section for now.  That same study had reccomended a lot larger stretch to be done in Benton County.  I imagine it was much easier to simply do this one section in Fayetteville.  Aside from widening the bridge that goes over the Porter Rd interchange, this seems a pretty easy straight forward section to widen.  Most of the other interchanges occur over the interstate not underneath it.  I think some of those interchanges could be a bit harder and more expensive to deal with.

Oops, even though I saw MLK to Weddington, for some reason I was thinking Weddington to Garland in my head.  Sorry for the confusion.  

[Mith242]

zman9810, on 15 May 2012 - 09:00 PM, said:

Half a cent is a healthy increase but since the transit tax would only affect Washington County it may not have much impact on the statewide vote. I think the transit tax is in more serious trouble than even the road tax. ORT did a horrible job in making the case for it and left some people feeling like they had been deceived. I still don't understand the whole situation concerning the loss of federal funding and if there will even be a loss.

The transit tax failed in Washington County. At one point the vote had been pretty close.  But ended up about 64% against to 36% for.

[zman9810]

Yeah- not surprising. I bet no one outside of Fayetteville in the county voted for it. It was just a very poorly planned effort without clear selling points.

[Mith242]

zman9810, on 25 May 2012 - 10:19 PM, said:

Yeah- not surprising. I bet no one outside of Fayetteville in the county voted for it. It was just a very poorly planned effort without clear selling points.

Yeah when the votes were actually close was probably when the Fayetteville districts were reporting in.  Then after that it was overwhelmingly against.  I agree it wasn't very well planned.  But at least Washington County got to vote on it, where as Benton County didn't even give voters a chance.  Maybe they'd be better off trying to focus on Fayetteville than Washington County as a whole.  I think they'd have a lot better luck getting something passed in Fayetteville.  Maybe ORT could focus on more routes in Fayetteville that Razorback doesn't provide.