Jump to content

Fayetteville City Plan 2025


Mith242

Recommended Posts

Back to the issue of density. There were two things mentioned for future developments mixed-use and TNF's, traditional neighborhood formats. We've been hearing a bit about some of the mixed-use developments around the city. But there was also a mention of trying to create neighborhoods closer to what was created back when the city was founded. I believe I mentioned this before but I lreally like the analogy of a city being a living being. There's also an analogy for the widespread nearly uncontrolled growth of suburban housing in living beings, it's called cancer. Perhaps a bit harsh but there are certainly some similarities. But back to talk of the meeting. There was a mention that Fayetteville had to show developers that this is how the city is going to grow in the future and that it's not just a suggestion. There were also pictures of dense neighborhoods found in some of the cities often mentioned as great places like San Francisco and Savannah. Some nice rowhouses were shown that obviously wouldn't take up much room compared to the typical housing and lots being made today. There were also denser neighborhoods shown with houses not attached. But basically just hsowing that density isn't a four letter word and that just because a neighborhood is dense doesn't mean it's such a bad thing. Most of the people I've met at these meetings certainly didn't seem very opposed to density. Although I've wondered if there was much representation of the people around the Mt Sequoyah area that seem to complain about density and traffic in their area and so on. The economist also had some interesting views on density. Right now a typical grocery store tends to locate on a major arterial to attrach attention of the passing traffic. They top the list of usually attracting 60% other retail stores score lower. But he mentioned that a denser area built in smaller blocks (something I'll get more into in my future posts) can increase pedestrian traffic. The reason the why an economist mentioned this was because with more pedestrian traffic smaller stores can be supported. A small store isn't likely to get noticed as people speed by in their vehicles but will get noticed by pedestrians walking. This could also help bring in more smaller specialty shops. I'll try to go more into some more transportation topics in future posts. By the way comments or questions are welcome at any time. I'll try to further explain anything I've seen at the meetings if need be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 83
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Now on to some more transportation talk. First I'll mention roundabouts. I've mentioned a bit about them before. The Dover-Kohl Urban Design team has recommended them before in the Downtown Master Plan for Fayetteville but I've noticed the city has yet to build one. Not sure if NWA cities are a bit hesitant to try them out because they're different or what. Figures show that a roundabout can handle twice the amount of traffic a traffic light can. A lot of this revolves around the fact that while a traffic light is red you have to wait even if traffic on the other street is extremely light. Whereas in a roundabout you can simply enter as soon as there's a gap. Dover-Kohl really pushed the roundabout issue. They proposed numerous roundabouts around the city. Whereas in the Downtown Master Plan they mainly focused on just creating one. Another issue brought up was multi lane boulevards. I'm still trying to find a pic or diagram to show what they are proposing. The ones they are recommending have a few lanes in the center with 'islands' of trees to the side which would then have a lane on both sides. The center lane would be more for through traffic not expecting to stop in the area and the side streets would be for slower traffic that would be expecting to pull off to park at a nearby shop and such. The side lanes could also have small connecting parking for the shops and retail and such. The outer lanes would have much slower traffic which would help the sidewalks seem more friendly. Then the center lanes for faster traffic were usually composed of two to three lanes which would make it easier to pedestrian traffic to cross with fewer lanes to worry about as opposed to some of our current 5 lanes streets.Dover Kohl mentioned if you build a city around cars and roadways then you'll get cars and roadways if you build a city around pedestrians then that's what you'll get. There was a lot of focus on making Fayetteville a pedestrian friendly city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really appreciate the updates, Mith. I personally appreciate being informed as to the goings-on at these meetings.

One question Mith: can you tell me the name of the transportation consultant that was there?

Plus, for any who is interested in roundabouts:

Primary guidebook on roundabouts by FHWA (everything technical you'd want to know): http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/00068.htm

And, if anyone hasn't seen this before, you might get a kick out of this:

lifemagi1.jpg

http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm

I know that Hendrix has pushed a roundabout for an intersection at 65B around campus (maybe Conway pushed it too). Anyway, they were big on it and AHTD is allowing it-- I'm not sure but I think the project has been let for construction. Roundabouts are generally good; however, they will require good engineering and some people/supporters to champion them, since they are a 'new' idea in these parts. And don't hold your breath on turning Joyce/College into a roundabout intersection. Roundabouts at huge major intersections like that (the entering volume there, off the top of my head, is probably around 80,000 vehicles per day) are a horrible idea, to put it very nicely, among the other reasons why you won't ever see one there (trust me). Makes me wonder about the consultant's reputation even more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And to just not give the impression that I'm a nay-sayer of different ideas, check this out:

bared8.jpg

I forget where in Mexico

cfi_aashto.jpg

An intersection in Maryland south of DC

These are called continuous flow intersections (CFI). They have them in Mexico, France, and one in Maryland. It's my understanding they have already started building the one in Baton Rouge (some major intersection near their airport), and will start soon on a major intersection in west Salt Lake City (if not already started). AHTD is seriously considering these. They also have advantages over traditional intersections (by flipping the left-turning traffic onto the other side of the intersection). If anyone's interested: http://www.abmb.com/cfi-testdrive.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ I just want to add my thanks Mith for the very detailed narrative of the planning meeting.

Wikipedia has a pretty good entry about Roundabouts and Traffic Circles... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout_intersection

I must say that large Roundabouts would be hard to find the room for heavily congested intersections in Fayetteville, but there are a few places it would be extremely useful... mainly the Joyce Blvd/North College intersection. Although I'm not too sure people here would be able to handle the "yielding" part of the Roundabout. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And to just not give the impression that I'm a nay-sayer of different ideas, check this out:

bared8.jpg

I forget where in Mexico

cfi_aashto.jpg

An intersection in Maryland south of DC

These are called continuous flow intersections (CFI). They have them in Mexico, France, and one in Maryland. It's my understanding they have already started building the one in Baton Rouge (some major intersection near their airport), and will start soon on a major intersection in west Salt Lake City (if not already started). AHTD is seriously considering these. They also have advantages over traditional intersections (by flipping the left-turning traffic onto the other side of the intersection). If anyone's interested: http://www.abmb.com/cfi-testdrive.html

Interesting idea itk, thanks for posting this. I still have some more info to go over and this somewhat relates to this. :D

Really appreciate the updates, Mith. I personally appreciate being informed as to the goings-on at these meetings.

One question Mith: can you tell me the name of the transportation consultant that was there?

No I didn't really catch his name or the name of the economist that was there. All I know is that he was an older gentleman with white hair.

^ I just want to add my thanks Mith for the very detailed narrative of the planning meeting.

Wikipedia has a pretty good entry about Roundabouts and Traffic Circles... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout_intersection

I must say that large Roundabouts would be hard to find the room for heavily congested intersections in Fayetteville, but there are a few places it would be extremely useful... mainly the Joyce Blvd/North College intersection. Although I'm not too sure people here would be able to handle the "yielding" part of the Roundabout. :D

Thanks for the added info guys and I'm glad you guys are finding it informative. I was wondering if maybe I had gone a little overboard with the info. :lol: But I think there was some very interesting ideas and I would like other areas of the metro to look into what Fayetteville is doing as well. Maybe everything that Fayetteville is doing isn't quite what some of the other NWA cities are looking for but I still think there are some interesting ideas in here. I still have a little more to cover which I'll try to do a little later today when I'm off work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting idea itk, thanks for posting this. I still have some more info to go over and this somewhat relates to this. :D

No I didn't really catch his name or the name of the economist that was there. All I know is that he was an older gentleman with white hair.

Thanks for the added info guys and I'm glad you guys are finding it informative. I was wondering if maybe I had gone a little overboard with the info. :lol: But I think there was some very interesting ideas and I would like other areas of the metro to look into what Fayetteville is doing as well. Maybe everything that Fayetteville is doing isn't quite what some of the other NWA cities are looking for but I still think there are some interesting ideas in here. I still have a little more to cover which I'll try to do a little later today when I'm off work.

Thats quite a bit of interesting information. Thanks for getting it on here.

I am very interested to see what plans Dover Kohl have for the neighborhood I am purchasing in.

I believe that in order for this type of wholescale redevelopment to occur, the city is going to have to allow a few more TIFs, or really disincentivize development on the fringes of the city. There will have to be some tax breaks to get the ball rolling on in-town redevelopment. Otherwise the availability of cheap greenfield is going to keep the sprawl machine running.

My primary area of interest in working in the area is in redevelopment of older properties, so hopefully the city will be agressive in making the economics work for developers who redevelop in-town.

I'm also curious as to the history of this consultant firm and if any of their recommendations have ever been implemented on a large scale in any other cities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thats quite a bit of interesting information. Thanks for getting it on here.

I am very interested to see what plans Dover Kohl have for the neighborhood I am purchasing in.

I believe that in order for this type of wholescale redevelopment to occur, the city is going to have to allow a few more TIFs, or really disincentivize development on the fringes of the city. There will have to be some tax breaks to get the ball rolling on in-town redevelopment. Otherwise the availability of cheap greenfield is going to keep the sprawl machine running.

My primary area of interest in working in the area is in redevelopment of older properties, so hopefully the city will be agressive in making the economics work for developers who redevelop in-town.

I'm also curious as to the history of this consultant firm and if any of their recommendations have ever been implemented on a large scale in any other cities.

Yeah the city will certainly have to do something to get the developers away from the edges and greenspaces. We could be seeing some stricter building codes which of course won't make everyone happy. I do know that Dover-Kohl have worked in a lot of other cities, including some overseas. I think a lot of times they tend to focus on one area of a city not the whole but I asked and they said they had something something similar with what they did with Fayetteville before. Here's a link to their website that might answer some of your questions.

http://www.doverkohl.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another aspect about transportation mentioned at the 2025 metting was the Joyce College intersection. I'm not sure where it ranks exactly but I've heard it mentioned as one of the busiest intersections in the state. The transportation consultant mentioned that in his opinion it was on it's last legs because you've already got two left hand turning lanes from every direction. A big problem come from the traffic from the south. For one thing this intersection is in the northern part of the city so many people have to approach it from the south. For people coming from College you have to go a while before you are able to make a left hand turn especially one that allows you easy access to the Fulbright Expressway. So you have to drive past the Fulbright Expressway to get to the intersection to make a u-turn to finally drive back south to access the Fulbright Expressway. Then there's also problems coming from the south from the Fulbright Expressway too. After to turn off I-540 to get on the Fulbright Expressway the only other side access you have is to make a right hand turn near the hospital but nothing to access the part of the city north of the Expressway till it ends and merges into College. So you're really funneling a lot of traffic into one single intersection. The consultants mentioned that the Fulbright Expressway really does serve it's purpose anymore and needs to be changed. They did mention that the city needs to work with the AHTD this time. But the consultants recommended that the expressway be changed over into a multi lanes boulevard and allow some of the city grid into it. That way you can allow more traffice flow through other areas and not have it act as a wall pushing most traffic over to the College/Joyce intersection. It was mentioned that the city had gotten around $9 Mil of federal funding to help work on Fulbright Expressway. Another road that was pushed to be changed into a multi lane boulevard is College Ave. Apparently the city has gotten the state to match any funding to help work on the roadway which was made to sound like it was a pretty big deal. I'm not sure when or if we can expect to see any changes. As far as the roundabouts taking up a lot of room that is correct. But I think there's plenty of room if the Fulbright Expressway is changed and I think the city is wanting to eventually redevelop College Ave. But one change will be not having buildings setting so far back off the road. Some parking can be added to the outer lane of a multi lane boulevard but also Dover-Kohl is a big advocate of moving parking behind the edges of the block in a sense hiding much of it behind developments and structures along the road/sidewalk's edge. This would also free up more room along College Ave at least for some possible roundabouts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^

Another aspect about transportation mentioned at the 2025 metting was the Joyce College intersection. I'm not sure where it ranks exactly but I've heard it mentioned as one of the busiest intersections in the state.

true

The transportation consultant mentioned that in his opinion it was on it's last legs because you've already got two left hand turning lanes from every direction.

If the City will provide funding for the 'flyover' (which would divert NB College traffic to WB Fullbright traffic away from the intersection), and Main St/I-540/Johnson gets improved, and when the Pinnacle Hills Promenade opens (which will suck some business away, at least in the short term), and the Shiloh/Fulbright/Gregg St intersections are improved, things will improve. There are cosmetic things that can be done there also which can improve the situation a little bit. Listen, there's a 0.00000000000001% chance of seeing a roundabout there. Technical reasons and political reasons (not to mention liability reasons). Believe me or not it's up to you. I just give a small chance because of the possibility of a quantum flux in the space-time conitnuum.

It was mentioned that the city had gotten around $9 Mil of federal funding to help work on Fulbright Expressway.

Not necessarily. It could be spent in other places around N Fayetteville.

^

But the consultants recommended that the expressway be changed over into a multi lanes boulevard and allow some of the city grid into it. That way you can allow more traffice flow through other areas and not have it act as a wall pushing most traffic over to the College/Joyce intersection.

That's an obvious point. That's the point of a flyover (which, BTW, Fayetteville has been talking about since as long as I can remember, which is since the 80's/90's).

Another road that was pushed to be changed into a multi lane boulevard is College Ave. Apparently the city has gotten the state to match any funding to help work on the roadway which was made to sound like it was a pretty big deal.

No, not true currently. I would know. I shouldn't even be talking about that, since I'm working on that as we speak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^

true

If the City will provide funding for the 'flyover' (which would divert NB College traffic to WB Fullbright traffic away from the intersection), and Main St/I-540/Johnson gets improved, and when the Pinnacle Hills Promenade opens (which will suck some business away, at least in the short term), and the Shiloh/Fulbright/Gregg St intersections are improved, things will improve. There are cosmetic things that can be done there also which can improve the situation a little bit. Listen, there's a 0.00000000000001% chance of seeing a roundabout there. Technical reasons and political reasons (not to mention liability reasons). Believe me or not it's up to you. I just give a small chance because of the possibility of a quantum flux in the space-time conitnuum.

Not necessarily. It could be spent in other places around N Fayetteville.

^

That's an obvious point. That's the point of a flyover (which, BTW, Fayetteville has been talking about since as long as I can remember, which is since the 80's/90's).

No, not true currently. I would know. I shouldn't even be talking about that, since I'm working on that as we speak.

On a lot of this, it is basically stuff that Dover-Kohl recommended but they did say the city would then have to work with the corresponding agencies like the AHTD if they wanted some of these things done. From the impression I'm getting, and I do stress impression is that the city is holding back on the flyover idea because they are looking more into other alternatives now with the Fulbright Expressway. But as I said before from what I can tell all of this is just reccomendations from Dover-Kohl and doesn't mean that any of these are about to be done or anything. Even if all the city officials decide they want to do something like this they do still have to go through others to get this done. As far as a roundabout is concerned Dover-Kohl did recommend one for the downtown area a couple of years ago when they did the Fayetteville Downtown Master Plan and there's one yet to be built. For all I know city officials aren't keen on the idea even though Dover-Kohl is really pushing for the city to look seriously into these. And I perhaps should also mention they aren't reccomending that every intersection be changed into a roundabout. I hope I didn't give that impression.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey itk, I have a question for you. This would seem to be right up your alley. Since we've been talking about roads and such I was curious if you could explain how the whole situation with roads work. Am I right in assuming that any road that's not designated as a highway a city's responsibility? And from what I can tell if it is a highway then if say a city wanted to do something with the road it's not a simple matter because the state is also involved, is that correct?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While I'm waiting on some info from itk I'll go ahead and try to finish one more bit of info I gathered from the 2025 meetings. Sorry it's taken me so long to finally post this. There was also some talk of changing the way some of our current shopping center/malls are now. I think most of you know the current layouts with the huge parking lots in front or around the shopping area. If you haven't already gathered the Dover-Kohl group aren't big on parking lots. They showed some plans on the overhead which I didn't get pics of. They redesigned the mall area. To me it almost looked like they broke up the mall a bit. To not have the whole area as one enclosed area. Although I didn't get a really good look at the plans. They also carved up the parking lot into small blocks. On the edges of the blocks are room for mixed-use structures to allow more retail space, restaurants and also allow condos. In the center of these small blocks would be parking decks. That reminds me to mention a conversation I had about parking decks I had with one of the design team. I mentioned I certainly like the idea of parking decks but they aren't cheap and how can we get the people who own these areas to put them in. He said it might not be so hard as I think. He said much of the land is being used to it's full potential. But of course you have to have places for people to park. But as real estate prices keep going up then it will certainly make areas like this want to re-evaluate parking that takes up so much space when there's a lot more money to be made by having more retail and restaurants and such. They also mentioned our mall being owned by the Macerich Company and they have done some malls/shopping areas rather similar to what they've designed in other areas. I know there are some of us who aren't fans of the Macerich Company. But it looks like our mall might eventually be eligible to be redesigned like some of their others malls. By the way the NWA Mall is the only one they own in Arkansas. Another shopping area focused on was Fiesta Square. They also had some designs which showed them once again carving up the parking lot into small blocks and doing the same think they did with the mall area. The Dover-Kohl group actuallt got in touch with the owner of Fiesta Square and mentioned some of their ideas. Ironically he said he had been interested in trying to do something with the shopping center to make better use of space but also not make the current tennants unhappy. He apparently really liked what they Dover-Kohl group had suggested and asked if it was possible to have a copy of the work they had done so he could look into something along those lines. So it could be possible that days of the typical strip mall and it's typical parking areas could one day be an uncommon thing in the city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey itk, I have a question for you. This would seem to be right up your alley. Since we've been talking about roads and such I was curious if you could explain how the whole situation with roads work. Am I right in assuming that any road that's not designated as a highway a city's responsibility?

Correct.

And from what I can tell if it is a highway then if say a city wanted to do something with the road it's not a simple matter because the state is also involved, is that correct?

Yep.

Now, a caveat to all this is if a City is interested in a project on a City street that they want to use federal funds for. In that case the State would get involved as a middle man so to speak. Also, some of the federal funding types/categories (but not all) that could be used on a City street would need to be approved by the State when it develops their Transportation Improvement Program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correct.

Yep.

Now, a caveat to all this is if a City is interested in a project on a City street that they want to use federal funds for. In that case the State would get involved as a middle man so to speak. Also, some of the federal funding types/categories (but not all) that could be used on a City street would need to be approved by the State when it develops their Transportation Improvement Program.

Thanks for the info, I wasn't sure about that but I figured you'd be the person to ask. :D There are three articles in today's Northwest Arkansas Times talking about College Ave and wanting to make changes to it. But obviously since it's a highway all of this will have to go through the AHTD first. But I'm getting the impression they're just at the stage where the city is trying to decide what they want to do. Then I guess they'll approach the AHTD about it. Although not all the changes are going to be dealing with the road itself but also all the buildings and such along it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read the articles too. I know that the City of Fayetteville is already working with AHTD right now on this, and things are moving forward. It'll be an interesting day in the office Monday morning. I imagine that you'll be hearing more about this in the coming months as things happen. I would like to comment more on this but unfortunately I can't since I'm directly involved in it-- especially if it becomes increasingly political.

I thought the articles were pretty decent as they come, and on the most part rather fair. Although 'Business owners like plan to revitilize College' is a very typical journalistic misleading title. They could have easily called it 'Business owners DISlike plan to revitilize College'. But besides that, I don't think anyone would argue College Ave couldn't use a fixer-upper. But the real question is what should be done and by whom. The devil is in the details. That's what's being done next.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read the articles too. I know that the City of Fayetteville is already working with AHTD right now on this, and things are moving forward. It'll be an interesting day in the office Monday morning. I imagine that you'll be hearing more about this in the coming months as things happen. I would like to comment more on this but unfortunately I can't since I'm directly involved in it-- especially if it becomes increasingly political.

I thought the articles were pretty decent as they come, and on the most part rather fair. Although 'Business owners like plan to revitilize College' is a very typical journalistic misleading title. They could have easily called it 'Business owners DISlike plan to revitilize College'. But besides that, I don't think anyone would argue College Ave couldn't use a fixer-upper. But the real question is what should be done and by whom. The devil is in the details. That's what's being done next.

Downsizing the street and making it more pedestrian friendly is going to be controversial. I think there are plenty of ways the city can justify it.

As far as the impact on businesses between Dickson and North Street, something to calm traffic should be seen by most business owners and property owners as a positive.

The retail located in this area suffers, IMO, from the lack of a left turn lane and because the entrances and exits to College are treacherous and often at an incline or decline. There are a few retail buildings along this stretch that have turned over every other year it seems. Driving through this narrow, curvy, multilane section of College, most people are just focused on getting up and down the hills and curves without running into another vehicle. The terrain just isn't friendly for ingress/egress, particularly with traffic at an increased speed. It functions more like an expressway than a commercial street.

The same is true for the section of 71 that is Archibald Yell. Too curvy, steep and narrow to function as anything than a traffic artery because entering and exiting to visit the few businesses is treacherous.

I'm sure there were business owners opposed to the revamping of Dickson Street a few years back. The property value increases and new development are evidence that redevelopment and traffic calming have worked. This project is somewhat different, but the intent and the predicted influence on development are similar.

The Gregg connection to Dickson via Arkansas Ave will be part of the equation here, making North College Ave less important by providing another link from downtown northward.

What this represents, if it comes to fruition, is effectively an expansion of the downtown, "urban" section of Fayetteville via the creation of additional traditional streetscape, which, if successful, will create another pedestrian friendly area. These are the types of areas that the city needs to create in order to have the "sense of place" necessary to make higher density living attractive, and thereby begin to realize the longterm goal of a more compact, less sprawl-oriented, urban city.

If I owned property in this section of the city, I'd be doing everything I could to support it. In a few years, there'll be some real money to be made in real estate there.

Hope it happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good points everyone. Any info that you can provide itk that obviously doesn't get you in trouble will be welcome itk. I also wondered about the businesses being so supportive of this. As more details come out I'm sure there will be more complaints. There were complaints for the Dickson St plan. I admit it won't be great for businesses while it's being done but things are going downhill already. Some businesses aren't doing too well as it is with the way College Ave is now. I've seen a few businesses and restaurants close in the last year and nothing has still gone in place of them. I certainly don't want to see any place have to close because of this but it needs to be done. I just hope they don't end up giving in and only doing minor changes. I think they could have done more on Dickson St. If you're going to go to the trouble of disrupting everything you might as well go in and do things right the first time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

College Ave is still making news. Now the tv stations are talking about it. KNWA interviewed Mayor Dan Coody about it. The state has agreed to pay half of the costs if it approves of the final plans. KNWA mentioned the costs could be $6 Mil which to be honest sounds low to me. I was expecting more than that but they may be talking about just a phase of it. I think they are talking about doing it in sections and maybe this is just for one section and then they'll see how well it works. That or maybe they won't be doing as much changes as I thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

College Ave is still making news. Now the tv stations are talking about it. KNWA interviewed Mayor Dan Coody about it. The state has agreed to pay half of the costs if it approves of the final plans. KNWA mentioned the costs could be $6 Mil which to be honest sounds low to me. I was expecting more than that but they may be talking about just a phase of it. I think they are talking about doing it in sections and maybe this is just for one section and then they'll see how well it works. That or maybe they won't be doing as much changes as I thought.

My impression has been that the initial redevelopment would be from Dickson to North street. 6 million sounds about right for about a 1/2 mile section.

It will all have to be done in phases.

My vision is that after the Dickson to North street section is complete, then they will target thes ections further north, maybe from North to Township, and it will likely be in a less dramatic fashion as the valley opens up a bit there and the area is relatively well suited for thoroughare commercial. Certain aesthetic problems will be resolved, as well as improvements to ingress/egress, reduction of curb cuts and more pedestrian friendly environment created.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One huge bonus for the redevelopment of the section between Dickson and North for future development is that on the western side of the street, the neighborhood has easy access to Wilson park. Its ammenities like this and the renewed emphasis on the pedestrian that will combine to encourage denser residential along this section once the plan is implemented.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That does sound like a good likely way to progress. Working the Dickson to North section somewhat allows what's been happening on Dickson to expand and work it's way along College. And as you mentioned some of this area is also not far away from Wilson Park. Sounds like a good place for some mixed-use developments. I could see the proximity to Wilson Park being a good selling point for any condos in this area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That does sound like a good likely way to progress. Working the Dickson to North section somewhat allows what's been happening on Dickson to expand and work it's way along College. And as you mentioned some of this area is also not far away from Wilson Park. Sounds like a good place for some mixed-use developments. I could see the proximity to Wilson Park being a good selling point for any condos in this area.

There are some mixed use developments planned for that area currently. They are a year or so away, but you can see some progress underway when you drive through there. But, this whole thing seems a little crazy to me. I mean taking away lanes on college ave and widening sidewalks??? I think college needs to be widened, not reduced! It must be a long range plan, but I drive through there quit a bit and I think that this area needs to have a middle (turn) lane at least, and not lose a lane or two. I do understand the higher density and mixed-use buildings, and I think that is a wonderful idea. BUT, I can only see one lane traffic, north and southbound, bumber to bumber for miles. With this much slow traffic most people will try and avoid this area. This could lead to more traffic on the 'back roads' and lead to more congestion. I guess we can all sit back and see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Northwest Arkansas is destined to sprawl. Concentrated efforts on an already developed section of the city will only drive business away from that section while under construction and by the time improvements are made they'll just need to be improved again. That's the price to pay for not having future-minded leaders in city and county government. What's that old saying... "lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.