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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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Just remembered something that I feel I have to add to the discussion, light rail on A&M tracks cannot and will not ever happen, huge brain fart on my part.

Regulations set by the FRA prohibit it from happening. So those sleek little rail cars you see in Seatle, Dallas, Portland and even the Little Rock Trolly cannot be brought here unless the region builds its own tracks that have absolutly no connection to a freight line.

For cars to operate on a active rail line you would be looking at much heavier, bigger and less efficient rail cars to meet crash worthiness standards. These standards are why the Acela in the NE weights twice as much as any European counterpart. You would in essence be using full size commuter rail cars.

Which mayorial candidate was the one who panders to everyone, I believe he is a pusher of this misconception.

Yeah a light rail would have to have it's own tracks. If some sort of transport was to use the existing tracks it would be some sort of heavy rail transport like you said. I guess I haven't seen which candidate is talking about this topic.

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Yeah a light rail would have to have it's own tracks. If some sort of transport was to use the existing tracks it would be some sort of heavy rail transport like you said. I guess I haven't seen which candidate is talking about this topic.

After some research I found where Jordan had the idea to develop light rail alongside the Ark-Mo Railroad tracks. He said that one engine could carry 15,000 passengers a hour. I don't think it would be feasible to build a light rail system directly alongside the present tracks as the rightaway is squeezed in tight as it is in many places. The road and stream crossings would also make it unfeasible- imagine trying to squeeze in light rail at the Dickson Street crossing. I don't know how he came up with the 15,000/hr figure but that seems like overkill for NWA.

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After some research I found where Jordan had the idea to develop light rail alongside the Ark-Mo Railroad tracks. He said that one engine could carry 15,000 passengers a hour. I don't think it would be feasible to build a light rail system directly alongside the present tracks as the rightaway is squeezed in tight as it is in many places. The road and stream crossings would also make it unfeasible- imagine trying to squeeze in light rail at the Dickson Street crossing. I don't know how he came up with the 15,000/hr figure but that seems like overkill for NWA.

I really don't think Jordan is that smart when it comes to being realistic about the city and the issues it faces. I have no idea where he gets all his support.

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After some research I found where Jordan had the idea to develop light rail alongside the Ark-Mo Railroad tracks. He said that one engine could carry 15,000 passengers a hour. I don't think it would be feasible to build a light rail system directly alongside the present tracks as the rightaway is squeezed in tight as it is in many places. The road and stream crossings would also make it unfeasible- imagine trying to squeeze in light rail at the Dickson Street crossing. I don't know how he came up with the 15,000/hr figure but that seems like overkill for NWA.

Overall having it near the existing tracks makes sense. But like you said, there are already some very tight fits. But having it somewhere else is probably going to be rather expensive as well.

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The city of Fayetteville had a neat little meeting at Christian Life Cathedral on Milsap where residents could see the plans for the fly-over on College Avenue to Fulbright Expwy, as well as the roundabout planned at Futral/Fulbright/North Hills.

They had big screens running animations of the projects as they will appear when completed.

I really like both of the plans, although I hope they can make the flyover into something architectural or attractive.

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The city of Fayetteville had a neat little meeting at Christian Life Cathedral on Milsap where residents could see the plans for the fly-over on College Avenue to Fulbright Expwy, as well as the roundabout planned at Futral/Fulbright/North Hills.

They had big screens running animations of the projects as they will appear when completed.

I really like both of the plans, although I hope they can make the flyover into something architectural or attractive.

I saw that there was a meeting on that but not until it was past time for it. :( Is the plan for it to exit the right side of North College and join Fulbright on the right side of it with an exit to Shiloh? I think I read that is what was finally decided on and made the most sense.

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I saw that there was a meeting on that but not until it was past time for it. :( Is the plan for it to exit the right side of North College and join Fulbright on the right side of it with an exit to Shiloh? I think I read that is what was finally decided on and made the most sense.

No, the plan they showed had the flyover starting at the center of College, like you'd exit left, from the left lane. It connected split after crossing over with one lane moving onto the expressway with another one merging with Shiloh near Olive Garden.

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No, the plan they showed had the flyover starting at the center of College, like you'd exit left, from the left lane. It connected split after crossing over with one lane moving onto the expressway with another one merging with Shiloh near Olive Garden.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard anything about the meeting.

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http://www.accessfayetteville.org/governme...resentation.pdf

This should make the College-Joyce intersection much less congested. It always takes forever to turn left up there. Not only that, but it should make it much safer to merge onto College from Fulbright.

Thanks for that link. Nice to see the maps and such. Especially the plans further west around the Fulbright expressway and I-540 interchange. I haven't seen those plans talked about as much. Granted they're probably further off in the future before they'll be completed. I think some of that land in the northwest is Johnson. All that controversy we had a while back ago when Fayetteville was trying to get that big landowner to switch his land over to Fayetteville city limits instead of Johnson.

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  • 1 month later...

Why has there not been much discussion about creating an eastern bypass around Fayetteville & Springdale and then crossing 540 around Lowell to then become a Western bypass that would stretch up near the NWA Airport and into Missouri? I know there has been some parkway discussions but little about an actual highway. Though this could become problematic with a 412 bypass... I just hate the idea of a western bypass for Fayetteville. We just need to force lightrail and be done with it... Darn hopeful wishing... But back to the main point, why so little about a mix of Eastern and Western bypass?

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Why has there not been much discussion about creating an eastern bypass around Fayetteville & Springdale and then crossing 540 around Lowell to then become a Western bypass that would stretch up near the NWA Airport and into Missouri? I know there has been some parkway discussions but little about an actual highway. Though this could become problematic with a 412 bypass... I just hate the idea of a western bypass for Fayetteville. We just need to force lightrail and be done with it... Darn hopeful wishing... But back to the main point, why so little about a mix of Eastern and Western bypass?

I also prefer an eastern bypass over a western one even further away from the core cities. Honestly I think the biggest problem is that it's flat in the western part of the counties and it's hilly in the eastern part. The hilly terrain would probably make it a little more difficult to build and also make it more expensive. I'm assuming you'd end up with more bridges to help keep the steep grades down. Bridges can really drive up costs. But I'd still rather see the metro encompassed with a circular interstate around it. Your suggestion isn't bad either. If Benton County isn't as concerned about having a western bypass like you said it could be in the east for Washington County and then use 412 to cross over.

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I also prefer an eastern bypass over a western one even further away from the core cities. Honestly I think the biggest problem is that it's flat in the western part of the counties and it's hilly in the eastern part. The hilly terrain would probably make it a little more difficult to build and also make it more expensive. I'm assuming you'd end up with more bridges to help keep the steep grades down. Bridges can really drive up costs. But I'd still rather see the metro encompassed with a circular interstate around it. Your suggestion isn't bad either. If Benton County isn't as concerned about having a western bypass like you said it could be in the east for Washington County and then use 412 to cross over.

True. Not only the hills in the eastern part of Fayetteville, but also the big wigs. They'd be another big obstacle to anything being built out east.

There's a LOT of money in Goshen and E. Fayetteville. They all like our current road system just fine. :)

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True. Not only the hills in the eastern part of Fayetteville, but also the big wigs. They'd be another big obstacle to anything being built out east.

There's a LOT of money in Goshen and E. Fayetteville. They all like our current road system just fine. :)

Very good point as well.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Couple street questions.

First about the Joyce/College intersection. As of now cars turning from Joyce onto College all go at once--two turn lanes going north, two turn lanes going south.

Has it always been this way? I think it used to be just one set of turn lanes at a time. It just seems like a really tight fit to me.

Second, along the new trail there's a quite elaborate signaling system where the trail intersects with Sycamore. Just to the north, on Poplar, there's nothing but signs. Anyone

know why? Just lack of money?

Edited by aerotive
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Couple street questions.

First about the Joyce/College intersection. As of now cars turning from Joyce onto College all go at once--two turn lanes going north, two turn lanes going south.

Has it always been this way? I think it used to be just one set of turn lanes at a time. It just seems like a really tight fit to me.

Second, along the new trail there's a quite elaborate signaling system where the trail intersects with Sycamore. Just to the north, on Poplar, there's nothing but signs. Anyone

know why? Just lack of money?

I think those lights have been set that ways for quite a few years now. But it did seem like they had been set differently but it's been quite a few years since.

As far as the trail goes, it's because of the size of the road and the amount of traffic. The Frisco Trail crosses a road and it doesn't have a big overheard sign like Sycamore does either. But it's also a two lane road. At some point they'll do some work on where the trail crosses North St. I think that will by far be the busiest street any of the trails has to cross. Other major roads like Joyce St they were able to cross it under a bridge. But there's just not enough room to do something like that at Sycamore or North. An overhead bridge would just cost too much money to seriously consider. The Scull Creek trail is officially open but there's still some work that has to be done. The motion detection system at Sycamore doesn't work yet. They will put in a pedestrian island on North so it's easier to cross. Then there's also things like lights and benches to put in along the trail.

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I think those lights have been set that ways for quite a few years now. But it did seem like they had been set differently but it's been quite a few years since.

As far as the trail goes, it's because of the size of the road and the amount of traffic. The Frisco Trail crosses a road and it doesn't have a big overheard sign like Sycamore does either. But it's also a two lane road. At some point they'll do some work on where the trail crosses North St. I think that will by far be the busiest street any of the trails has to cross. Other major roads like Joyce St they were able to cross it under a bridge. But there's just not enough room to do something like that at Sycamore or North. An overhead bridge would just cost too much money to seriously consider. The Scull Creek trail is officially open but there's still some work that has to be done. The motion detection system at Sycamore doesn't work yet. They will put in a pedestrian island on North so it's easier to cross. Then there's also things like lights and benches to put in along the trail.

Yeah if it were just busyness/number of lanes that signaling system at Sycamore would've been installed at North instead. Too much money or not, something more than an island needs to be done at North. I won't cross there--I walk up to Leverett & wait for a clear pedestrian signal.

While I have this topic on the brain, any idea why narrow, two-lane, single-sidewalk Leverett has a speed limit of 30, while wide, 4-lane, double-sidewalk Sycamore has a 25-mph limit?

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Yeah if it were just busyness/number of lanes that signaling system at Sycamore would've been installed at North instead. Too much money or not, something more than an island needs to be done at North. I won't cross there--I walk up to Leverett & wait for a clear pedestrian signal.

While I have this topic on the brain, any idea why narrow, two-lane, single-sidewalk Leverett has a speed limit of 30, while wide, 4-lane, double-sidewalk Sycamore has a 25-mph limit?

I admit I'm wondering about the pedestrian island as well on North. I think it will help during some times of the day but if you're trying to cross during one of the busier times I'm not sure a pedestrian island will help much. But I guess for now it's probably the only solution. Building a pedestrian bridge over North St would be pretty expensive. I also think North St is important and not very feasible to try to stop traffic every time a pedestrian tries to cross as well.

No idea on the speed limits on those two sections. It is rather odd though. Especially with the sidewalks on Leverett being right next to the road in most places.

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I would love to see a light rail but that's a bit of a pipe dream. What I'd like to see is a regionwide bus service that goes out west to Lincoln / Siloam Srpings, Gravette in the northwest, and West Fork to the South with maybe a line to Eureka Springs.

I think light rail, maybe street car would be the best in my opinion. Buses are needed but hard infrastructure is worth so much. People will work so much more to utilize something like hard infrastructure than a soft one like a bus route. Just me talking though, it won't happen anytime soon. I don't see why the railroad doesn't include a stop in Fay for its tourist thing either.

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A few years back, I remember meeting someone who was promoting a light rail transit plan for Northwest Arkansas being proposed in conjunction with the University of Arkansas. They had professionally prepared maps, plans, drawings, and brochures. That group seems to have disappeared. What happened to that project?

P.S. I just got back from Los Angeles on a business trip and rode the redline, blueline, and green line light rails. It was clean, faster than driving, easy, and took me everywhere I needed to go on business, plus to places I might never have gone - downtown Long Beach, Universal Studios, downtown Los Angeles, L.A. County Museum of Art, and Olvera Street. It was full of passengers from every walk of life, from well-dressed business executives to working people to college students. It was easy to imagine a similar above ground light rail for our area.

My observation relevant for Northwest Arkansas is that while some of the routes were underground, the "above ground" tracks ran alongside freight car rail lines, down the middle of freeways, and in the middle of the streets. All these are viable options for light rail route choices in Northwest Arkansas.

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In other transportation news, looks like local voters will end up deciding about the Bella Vista bypass. To get things going it will most likely have to be a toll road. The state agencies aren't likely to move forward with it being a toll road, so local voters will have to make that decision. If voters vote against it becoming a toll road then the project will probably be put off for quite a while. Missouri is getting close to the point of using the money it has set aside for it's section for other purposes. Then it could be a while before before the bypass might come about.

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