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Texarkana-Boom Town


bigboyz05

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Projects just completed or on the drawing board:

Intermodal facility will sonn be under construction. Legacy Tower will be a mixed use office and retail development due to be completed by 2008. Downtown Auditorium is being renovated. Old Burhman Pharr building is being converted into lofts downtown. Downtown grocery is under construction. A 1,000 home project is taking shape on the west side. An 11 story apartment building has just started construction. A massive civic and sports complex is under construction on the Arkanside side. It will have areas for baseball, soccer, football, basketball, tennis as well as swimming pools. In addition it will have an arena that holds up to 6,000 and will be used for concerts, Texarkana Bandits hockey games and conventions. Taking shape near this facility will be a huge development that will feature hotels, restaurants, retail, bars, apartments and more. Southern Refrigerated Trucking has broken ground on 40 acres for it's new facility that will create more than 1,550 jobs. Precision Steamroll Grinders has just completed construction of it's factory.

Among the many retailers, restaurants, educational/medical facilities and hotels coming to the city or just opened include Best Buy, Citi Trends clothing store, Alfredo's Italian Restaurant, Ruby Tuesdays, Coldstone Creamery, Talbot's Department Store, Sav-A-Lot, Travel Inn Plaza Hotel, Goodies, Hooters, Olive Garden, TGI Friday, Ross Dress For Less, Burlington Coat Factory, Gander Mountain, New York Burrito, UPS Store, Starbucks, 2 new Bank of the Ozarks, B Jaxx, Beehive Shoe Outlet, Fred's, Texas A&M is building a new university here that once completed will serve up to 15,000 students, Old Navy, a brand new 200 bed medical center, Shoe Carnival, a 31,000 sq. ft. urology building, Ironwood Grill, 2 Cato's, Pet Smart, Home Depot, Budget Inn, Texas Bank and Trust and several apartment complexes including Chapel Ridge and Lacey Apartments.

As far as transportation goes I-30 is set to be widened to 6 lanes because the traffic has gotten so heavy. When I-30 was first built through Texarkana it was designed for a traffic count of no more than 50,000 but currently our traffic count is well over 80,000. I-49, known locally as Arkansas 549, has been built from Texarkana to Doddridge or just 5 miles north of the La stateline. Louisiana is said to start construction of the Shreveport to Arkansas stateline section soon. Also a spur of I-69 will be built between Marshall, Tx and Texarkana. The southern loop has already been constructed. A northern loop will soon be constructed around the northern part of town and will be the meeting place of the future I-69 spur which will run along the extreme western edge of the city and I-49 North. Texarkana Regional Airport is undergoing a major reconstruction of the terminal and runways with the addition of another airline, Continental, setting up shop. While the Texas side has always eclipsed the Arkansas side as far as growth is concerned it seems like the Arkansas side is making a big comeback! We've always been a major pit stop between Dallas and Little Rock but, now we're the business, transportation, shopping, medical and soo to be entertainment 0hub of the entire N.E. Texas, S.E. Oklahoma and much of Southern Arkansas. You guys should come and check us out.

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Projects just completed or on the drawing board:

Intermodal facility will sonn be under construction. Legacy Tower will be a mixed use office and retail development due to be completed by 2008. Downtown Auditorium is being renovated. Old Burhman Pharr building is being converted into lofts downtown. Downtown grocery is under construction. A 1,000 home project is taking shape on the west side. An 11 story apartment building has just started construction. A massive civic and sports complex is under construction on the Arkanside side. It will have areas for baseball, soccer, football, basketball, tennis as well as swimming pools. In addition it will have an arena that holds up to 6,000 and will be used for concerts, Texarkana Bandits hockey games and conventions. Taking shape near this facility will be a huge development that will feature hotels, restaurants, retail, bars, apartments and more. Southern Refrigerated Trucking has broken ground on 40 acres for it's new facility that will create more than 1,550 jobs. Precision Steamroll Grinders has just completed construction of it's factory.

Among the many retailers, restaurants, educational/medical facilities and hotels coming to the city or just opened include Best Buy, Citi Trends clothing store, Alfredo's Italian Restaurant, Ruby Tuesdays, Coldstone Creamery, Talbot's Department Store, Sav-A-Lot, Travel Inn Plaza Hotel, Goodies, Hooters, Olive Garden, TGI Friday, Ross Dress For Less, Burlington Coat Factory, Gander Mountain, New York Burrito, UPS Store, Starbucks, 2 new Bank of the Ozarks, B Jaxx, Beehive Shoe Outlet, Fred's, Texas A&M is building a new university here that once completed will serve up to 15,000 students, Old Navy, a brand new 200 bed medical center, Shoe Carnival, a 31,000 sq. ft. urology building, Ironwood Grill, 2 Cato's, Pet Smart, Home Depot, Budget Inn, Texas Bank and Trust and several apartment complexes including Chapel Ridge and Lacey Apartments.

As far as transportation goes I-30 is set to be widened to 6 lanes because the traffic has gotten so heavy. When I-30 was first built through Texarkana it was designed for a traffic count of no more than 50,000 but currently our traffic count is well over 80,000. I-49, known locally as Arkansas 549, has been built from Texarkana to Doddridge or just 5 miles north of the La stateline. Louisiana is said to start construction of the Shreveport to Arkansas stateline section soon. Also a spur of I-69 will be built between Marshall, Tx and Texarkana. The southern loop has already been constructed. A northern loop will soon be constructed around the northern part of town and will be the meeting place of the future I-69 spur which will run along the extreme western edge of the city and I-49 North. Texarkana Regional Airport is undergoing a major reconstruction of the terminal and runways with the addition of another airline, Continental, setting up shop. While the Texas side has always eclipsed the Arkansas side as far as growth is concerned it seems like the Arkansas side is making a big comeback! We've always been a major pit stop between Dallas and Little Rock but, now we're the business, transportation, shopping, medical and soo to be entertainment 0hub of the entire N.E. Texas, S.E. Oklahoma and much of Southern Arkansas. You guys should come and check us out.

I can safely assume that all these projects are taking place on the Texas side, unless specifically noted otherwise, right?

Congratulations Texarkana, TX, you are growing quite fast.

Meh.

Edited by johnnydr87
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Hey bigboyz05, welcome to the forum. I noticed you looking around yesterday. Glad you decided to post. I take it you're from Texarkana or somewhere nearby? It would be great to hear more about that part of the state. I've been curious is there much differentiation between the Texas and Arkansas sides of the city? I've always gotten the impression that the area works very much as one city instead of two seperate cities. I've driven through Texarkana before but unfortunately didn't stop. I'd be a lot more likely to come visit if they'd get the I-49 project done. It would make it real convenient to simply drive down straight from Fayetteville. Hope you'll keep us informed on what's going on in the area down there.

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I can safely assume that all these projects are taking place on the Texas side, unless specifically noted otherwise, right?

Congratulations Texarkana, TX, you are growing quite fast.

Meh.

Hey Johnny! Thanks for telling me about this site! You're pretty much correct about the Texas side having a lot of those projects with the exception of the downtown auditorium, Southern Refrigerated Trucking, Precision Steamroll Grinders, Burhman Pharr loft project, B Jaxx, Beehive Shoe Outlet and the Texarkana Airport reconstruction. The Texarkana, Arkansas mayor has said though that we should expect some really big things on the Arkansas side but, that's all he said.

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Hey bigboyz05, welcome to the forum. I noticed you looking around yesterday. Glad you decided to post. I take it you're from Texarkana or somewhere nearby? It would be great to hear more about that part of the state. I've been curious is there much differentiation between the Texas and Arkansas sides of the city? I've always gotten the impression that the area works very much as one city instead of two seperate cities. I've driven through Texarkana before but unfortunately didn't stop. I'd be a lot more likely to come visit if they'd get the I-49 project done. It would make it real convenient to simply drive down straight from Fayetteville. Hope you'll keep us informed on what's going on in the area down there.

Hey Mith! Thanks for the welcome. I'm for Texarkana and we pretty much function as one city. The main difference is that the Texas side is much larger and has much of the newer developments but the Arkansas side will soon have their chance to shine once the massive civic/sports complex is completed. Even Gov. Huckabee was down here when the project was first announced and he said this project would put Texarkana, Arkansas on the map. I know what you mean about I-49 because I remember once when me and my family had to drive from here to Kansas City and it was like hell driving on Hwy 71 through the mountains around Mena! I know a lot of people are glad the section between Fort Smith and Fayetteville was completed. I will make sure to keep ya'll updated on what's going on down here. I'm just glad the city is growing because for a long time there wasn't anything going on down here. Btw, don't you post on the Houston Architecture Info forums?

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Hey Mith! Thanks for the welcome. I'm for Texarkana and we pretty much function as one city. The main difference is that the Texas side is much larger and has much of the newer developments but the Arkansas side will soon have their chance to shine once the massive civic/sports complex is completed. Even Gov. Huckabee was down here when the project was first announced and he said this project would put Texarkana, Arkansas on the map. I know what you mean about I-49 because I remember once when me and my family had to drive from here to Kansas City and it was like hell driving on Hwy 71 through the mountains around Mena! I know a lot of people are glad the section between Fort Smith and Fayetteville was completed. I will make sure to keep ya'll updated on what's going on down here. I'm just glad the city is growing because for a long time there wasn't anything going on down here. Btw, don't you post on the Houston Architecture Info forums?

Great, I'm looking forward to hearing more about Texarkana. I wouldn't mind hearing more about it outside the developments too. I've posted elsewhere around Urban Planet but I don't know if I've been on a Houston Architecture Info forum. Are we talking about another website?

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Great, I'm looking forward to hearing more about Texarkana. I wouldn't mind hearing more about it outside the developments too. I've posted elsewhere around Urban Planet but I don't know if I've been on a Houston Architecture Info forum. Are we talking about another website?

I don't know maybe it was Skyscrapercity. I haven't been to the Fayetteville area in about 10 years. I probably wouldn't even recognize the place now considering all the growth that's taken place.

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Welcome to the forum bigboyz05! It's great to see a forumer from Texarkana.

I'm from New Orleans, but have very strong family ties to the Texarkana area. My family settled around Texarkana in the late 1800's. I still have alot of family there today, and I own land in Foreman,AR, so I am up there as often as possible. I just love the place.

I'm glad to see all of the new developments for Texarkana, and look forward to hearing about new developments for the Arkansas side.

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I don't know maybe it was Skyscrapercity. I haven't been to the Fayetteville area in about 10 years. I probably wouldn't even recognize the place now considering all the growth that's taken place.

No, it wasn't me over there. I think I've only been on that website once. As much as Fayetteville has changed you should see how much other areas like Rogers has changed. Sounds like you guys might get more snow down there than we could up here. Although it doesn't sound like Texarkana will be in the 5" area I've heard north of I-30 that's being predicted.

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Welcome to the forum bigboyz05! It's great to see a forumer from Texarkana.

I'm from New Orleans, but have very strong family ties to the Texarkana area. My family settled around Texarkana in the late 1800's. I still have alot of family there today, and I own land in Foreman,AR, so I am up there as often as possible. I just love the place.

I'm glad to see all of the new developments for Texarkana, and look forward to hearing about new developments for the Arkansas side.

Hey NCB! I'm beginning to really like this site! the people here are much nicer than over at Skyscrapercity. That's really neat that your family has had such a presence in this area for so long!

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Mith, I live close to the center of the city so for us we're forecast to have about an inch. The suburban areas in the far northern sections of the city could get between 2-3 inches and areas north of Ashdown could get around 5 inches. How much snow is Fayetteville expecting to get? My mother, who is a nurse, is thinking of moving up there because she's heard so much about the huge growth of NWA especially in the medical sector.

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Mith, I live close to the center of the city so for us we're forecast to have about an inch. The suburban areas in the far northern sections of the city could get between 2-3 inches and areas north of Ashdown could get around 5 inches. How much snow is Fayetteville expecting to get? My mother, who is a nurse, is thinking of moving up there because she's heard so much about the huge growth of NWA especially in the medical sector.

Most people are forecasting 1-2" in northwest Arkansas. Although I've seen a 2-4" also. There probably are a number jobs for your mother. Just about all the hospitals in the area have just expanded or are going through the process now. Any idea is she's looking at any one hospital or city in particular? Glad you're enjoying the forum here. I think it's great to finally find someone from that area of Arkansas. Most topics tend to focus on northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas. But it's also nice to hear about other areas of the state as well. If you happen to have a digital camera feel free to post some pics as well.

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Most people are forecasting 1-2" in northwest Arkansas. Although I've seen a 2-4" also. There probably are a number jobs for your mother. Just about all the hospitals in the area have just expanded or are going through the process now. Any idea is she's looking at any one hospital or city in particular? Glad you're enjoying the forum here. I think it's great to finally find someone from that area of Arkansas. Most topics tend to focus on northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas. But it's also nice to hear about other areas of the state as well. If you happen to have a digital camera feel free to post some pics as well.

Here are a few pictures I've found but it's not much. Go to http://houstonfreeways.com/modern/2005-05-16i49.aspx

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^Nice pictures.

"I-49 North" in Louisiana has all of the funding in place, and construction should start soon. Over the past few months, Louisiana has been focusing more on "I-49 South" from Lafayette to New Orleans. I-49 South also has it's funding in place, and it may start construction even faster than expected before Katrina.

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Glad you made it over bigboyz. I invited a few of the arkansas members from skyscrapercity over here (arkansasbuff was another, and two others). I've invited people from other forums too, but they usually don't come over (or if they do, the post only a few times).

As you can tell, I get pretty jealous of the Texarkana, TX side.

Edited by johnnydr87
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In all fairness, half of this thread should be on the Texas board.

:lol:

But it sounds like he's from the Arkansas side. :D I know you're just trying to get something going over in the Texas forum.

Glad you made it over bigboyz. I invited a few of the arkansas members from skyscrapercity over here (arkansasbuff was another, and two others). I've invited people from other forums too, but they usually don't come over (or if they do, the post only a few times).

As you can tell, I get pretty jealous of the Texarkana, TX side.

Better watch out, they recently banned some regular forumers here on UP because they were advertising other sites. Not sure what their policy is over there. Course if you do get banned over there then I guess you'll just have to spend more time over here. :D

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I'm sorry I posted this wrong it should be http://houstonfreeways.com/modern/2005-05-16_i49.aspx

Cool, thanks for posting some pics. Did you take these? It will be great when I-49 is done. Although the last section finished could be the section in Arkansas going through the Ouachitas. Of course the section that will probably benefit me personally the most. :D

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Cool, thanks for posting some pics. Did you take these? It will be great when I-49 is done. Although the last section finished could be the section in Arkansas going through the Ouachitas. Of course the section that will probably benefit me personally the most. :D

Anytime. I'll try post more later.

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