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Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc


mcheiss

Future Proposed Northwest Arkansas Transportation Projects  

103 members have voted

  1. 1. Which Project is the best option for the future of Northwest Arkansas?

    • 10 Stop Light Rail System
      33
    • Western Bypass
      15
    • I-540 Improvements (6 to 8 lanes)
      35
    • Eastern Parkway
      6
    • Regionwide Bus Service
      8
    • Pedestrian Facilities
      1
    • Bicycle Facilities
      4
    • Ride Share Programs
      1


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I'm pretty sure that all of the Trail systems are supposed to link together in the future.

Although, I'm not sure if Springdale has taken an interest in a trail system.

I'm not sure either, I haven't heard much about them having one. But I do think Springdale can sometimes be ignored by the rest of northwest Arkansas. But I'd probably think they might consider something like it, but haven't done much yet and are working on other things.

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Springdale will be needed for the trail system to work.

I've heard talks that they want to put a large, large public park in around Springdale that would serve as a centralized park for NW Arkansas. I'm not sure if this is true or will ever happen, but they say it would include a music pavillion and lots of green space (more of an adult area).

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Springdale will be needed for the trail system to work.

I've heard talks that they want to put a large, large public park in around Springdale that would serve as a centralized park for NW Arkansas. I'm not sure if this is true or will ever happen, but they say it would include a music pavillion and lots of green space (more of an adult area).

Sounds interesting. I don't think I've heard much about this. I also guess I didn't realize you were also talking about a large intracity trail system either. Certainly an interesting idea. Hopefully our cities will start doing a better job working with each other so that such things can become possible.

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Sounds interesting. I don't think I've heard much about this. I also guess I didn't realize you were also talking about a large intracity trail system either. Certainly an interesting idea. Hopefully our cities will start doing a better job working with each other so that such things can become possible.

I agree.

Coordination is about the best thing NWA can do to help with Urban Growth.

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Looks like Rogers will be building another 5 lane road in the near future.

52nd Street will run parallel with Horsebarn and I-540 in West Rogers. The city wants to make this the dominant North-South route in the city. The street will be 5 lanes and will run along many new developments going on like Medical Office Buildings, A 6-Story Holiday Inn, 4 story Staybridge Suites, and an auto park consisting of a Toyota Dealership and 2 or 3 other car dealerships.

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I know this is off topic but since we have talked a bit about the light rail here this article I read made me think a little about it. It's not a light rail but it sounds like there's a rail line doing okay in Arkansas. The Texas Eagle runs from Chicago to San Antonio. It runs through northeast Arkansas through Little Rock down through southwest Arkansas. I seem to remember years ago that they were talking about cancelling the whole thing. But it sounds like they had a record year last year. Interesting to see something like this doing well in this part of the country.

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Getting back to the subject of northwest Arkansas. I read in the paper (which I left at work again so I don't have all the details) that there is talk of trying to get the western part of the 412 bypass built. I didn't get around to reading the whole article but I got the impression they there might be enough money available to do the western section. I'm assuming they mean from just east of Tontitown to Hwy 71 north of Springdale. But I think it would have to jump ahead of a couple of other projects. But it's nice to hear that this project could possibly be getting off the ground in the near future.

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Getting back to the subject of northwest Arkansas. I read in the paper (which I left at work again so I don't have all the details) that there is talk of trying to get the western part of the 412 bypass built. I didn't get around to reading the whole article but I got the impression they there might be enough money available to do the western section. I'm assuming they mean from just east of Tontitown to Hwy 71 north of Springdale. But I think it would have to jump ahead of a couple of other projects. But it's nice to hear that this project could possibly be getting off the ground in the near future.

I read about that. I'm glad that this is hopefully getting started. And since the 412 Bypass is supposed to connect to the future access road to XNA, that means we are one step closer to having a nice divided Interstate like road out to XNA. If XNA starts construction on that road, look out for development all along that road and the 412 Bypass.

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I read about that. I'm glad that this is hopefully getting started. And since the 412 Bypass is supposed to connect to the future access road to XNA, that means we are one step closer to having a nice divided Interstate like road out to XNA. If XNA starts construction on that road, look out for development all along that road and the 412 Bypass.

I thought I heard something on KNWA about the airport and it's road. Any ideas if they are getting close to doing anything?

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They are still completing enviromental studies and such. It won't be done until around 2009 or so. There's a lot of great land out there that's flat that would be perfect for Office buildings, Hotels, and such.

The Wingate Inn opened a Hotel near the airport on S.W. Regional Airport Road. It's the only thing out there near the airport, yet it's about 50% occupied through the weekdays. Airport Officials are gathering thoughts on a RFP (Request for Proposal) for an onsite Hotel.

I think this brings us to another great topic starter, about how lack on infastructure is putting a strain on the airport and not allowing much development near XNA. There are plenty of projects at the airport that should have been completed but since they are not, it's putting a strain on everything else.

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They are still completing enviromental studies and such. It won't be done until around 2009 or so. There's a lot of great land out there that's flat that would be perfect for Office buildings, Hotels, and such.

The Wingate Inn opened a Hotel near the airport on S.W. Regional Airport Road. It's the only thing out there near the airport, yet it's about 50% occupied through the weekdays. Airport Officials are gathering thoughts on a RFP (Request for Proposal) for an onsite Hotel.

I think this brings us to another great topic starter, about how lack on infastructure is putting a strain on the airport and not allowing much development near XNA. There are plenty of projects at the airport that should have been completed but since they are not, it's putting a strain on everything else.

You have a point I guess I hadn't thought about a lot. I'm just wanting that area of the 412 bypass and the airport road to be done. I think that will not only help the airport out a lot it will finally let Washington County in on some of the benefits of the airport developments. So far it's all been for Benton County. I know many people here in Fayetteville wish it wasn't quite so far away. But back to your point, I guess usually it wouldn't be quite so bad but they fact that growth has happened so quickly that the added stress of not being able to develop very well around the airport has made it worse.

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You have a point I guess I hadn't thought about a lot. I'm just wanting that area of the 412 bypass and the airport road to be done. I think that will not only help the airport out a lot it will finally let Washington County in on some of the benefits of the airport developments. So far it's all been for Benton County. I know many people here in Fayetteville wish it wasn't quite so far away. But back to your point, I guess usually it wouldn't be quite so bad but they fact that growth has happened so quickly that the added stress of not being able to develop very well around the airport has made it worse.

Yeah, many developers of Hotels and such say they are waiting until the access road is complete before they start building there hotels and restaurants and such. It would be nice to make an Urban Core around the meeting point of 412 Bypass and I-540. It would be well suited for centralized and be near the 2 biggest and most traveled road in NW Arkansas.

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Yeah, many developers of Hotels and such say they are waiting until the access road is complete before they start building there hotels and restaurants and such. It would be nice to make an Urban Core around the meeting point of 412 Bypass and I-540. It would be well suited for centralized and be near the 2 biggest and most traveled road in NW Arkansas.

It very well might. I can see that area becoming a big area. I guess that might also give Springdale some help in helping develop and indentify itself. Hopefully they'll do a better job of handling the developments that come along there.

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It very well might. I can see that area becoming a big area. I guess that might also give Springdale some help in helping develop and indentify itself. Hopefully they'll do a better job of handling the developments that come along there.

I hope they do. It could be one of Springdale's last chances at creating an image for itself and possibly all of NW Arkansas. I think Springdale sees that and I hope they control zoning a lot better to. It would be a great area to see High rises and such.

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I hope they do. It could be one of Springdale's last chances at creating an image for itself and possibly all of NW Arkansas. I think Springdale sees that and I hope they control zoning a lot better to. It would be a great area to see High rises and such.

I agree with you. Surely they will realize this and do a better job. It certainly will have some nice potential to it.

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I just hope they don't build a truck stop or gas stations there. Not that those are bad developments, it's just that the land is better suited form Highway Commercial and Downtown Commercial Projects.

I think once the bypass is completed, the city really needs to advertise that area. Springdale needs to have a lot of control over that land, and get some tougher zoning issues. It would be nice to have a downtown (even if it is small) area designated for NW Arkansas.

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I just hope they don't build a truck stop or gas stations there. Not that those are bad developments, it's just that the land is better suited form Highway Commercial and Downtown Commercial Projects.

I think once the bypass is completed, the city really needs to advertise that area. Springdale needs to have a lot of control over that land, and get some tougher zoning issues. It would be nice to have a downtown (even if it is small) area designated for NW Arkansas.

Yeah this will be Springdale's chance since they sorta got the short end of the stick on I-540 and only two exits.

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Okay I will give some more info on the possibility of the western part of the 412 bypass being started. The section being mentioned runs from Tontitown to the west of Springdale and around the northwest part of Springdale to I-540. There are now enough state and federal funds to do that section of the road but it looks like there are other projects that also could be done instead. It sounds like the money might all be spent in northwest Arkansas, but part of this depends on what people push. A number of smaller projects scattered throughout the area or to give up on those for now and have everyone work together to push the west part of the 412 bypass. Here's a link to some maps of this project and others in the northwest Arkansas area.

http://www.nwarpc.com/maps.htm

Now that I take a closer look there are some pretty nice maps here, giving more than just road projects but some population densities and city boundaries and so on.

Edited by Mith242
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Nice Site Mith!!

Both the Bella Vista Bypass and the Springdale Bypass are much needed in the area.

I was much more impressed with the site than I thought. I came across it by accident and simply glanced at it and was going to use the address for a link for people who might want a better idea of where it was going. Then I took a more serious look at the site and maps and realized it had a lot of interesting info in all the maps. It's also nice seeing some up to date boundaries for all the cities.

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Looking at some of the maps help me appreciate some of the possible projects that might be possible for northwest Arkansas. The 'western' bypass would basically just keep running south of the future bypass around Bella Vista and not head southeast as I-540 does. Also they do have an 'eastern parkway' running all the way up into Benton County and reconnecting to I-540 north of Bentonville. I wonder just how possible it is to get that close to Beaver Lake and how expensive that may be but they do have it shown on one of the maps. Apparently there was a survey of long term transportation plans in northwest Arkansas. The light rail project got a favorable 67% response. So although this is a study and only a sampling of the general population the light rail seems to be gaining support. It still looks most people aren't ready for I-540 to be 6 to 8 lanes. Over half the people opted to improving intersecting roads and other major alternative roads before widening I-540.

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