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Massive I-30 construction to begin in Texarkana


bigboyz05

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Cool, that will be a huge project but should fix some of those traffic problems. That one overpass over by the mall gets backed up worse than anything in NWA or LR.

Really? I would have thought NWA and L.R. would have worse overpasses.

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Richmond Road. Yes it does, it gets backed-up BAD.

I think part of the problem is all of those traffic signals. Plus the area is becoming over saturated with businesses. There's still a lot of building going on out there so the traffic will be horrendous until the road construction is completed.

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I think part of the problem is all of those traffic signals. Plus the area is becoming over saturated with businesses. There's still a lot of building going on out there so the traffic will be horrendous until the road construction is completed.

One of the biggest problems is all those roads right there together: I-30, St. Michael Drive (service road,) and Richmond. Then with all the new businesses, BAM there's a problem. When I started visiting Texarkana regularly over 5 years ago, there was nothing over there. There was the Super 1, an old Sam's Club, a couple of gas stations, Texas Roadhouse, Movies 12, and a HUGE cow pasture. That huge cow pasture is now one of Texarkana's hottest retail areas. Wow, who'da thunk it!? Certainly not me, but I've been thoroughly impressed!

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One of the biggest problems is all those roads right there together: I-30, St. Michael Drive (service road,) and Richmond. Then with all the new businesses, BAM there's a problem. When I started visiting Texarkana regularly over 5 years ago, there was nothing over there. There was the Super 1, an old Sam's Club, a couple of gas stations, Texas Roadhouse, Movies 12, and a HUGE cow pasture. That huge cow pasture is now one of Texarkana's hottest retail areas. Wow, who'da thunk it!? Certainly not me, but I've been thoroughly impressed!

Too many businesses and large employers in that area linked by only one overpass. They need more overpasses to alleviate the traffic so it doesn't all funnel to the one overpass. Hopefully that's part of the new I-30 plan.

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Too many businesses and large employers in that area linked by only one overpass. They need more overpasses to alleviate the traffic so it doesn't all funnel to the one overpass. Hopefully that's part of the new I-30 plan.

I agree with you! The Cowhorn Creek overpass was originally built to help relieve Richmond Road of some of the extra traffic. Well, needless to say it didn't work. With the new Texas A&M University being built out that way, traffic will truly be a nightmare.

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I agree with you! The Cowhorn Creek overpass was originally built to help relieve Richmond Road of some of the extra traffic. Well, needless to say it didn't work. With the new Texas A&M University being built out that way, traffic will truly be a nightmare.

The problem is, the Cowhorn Creek overpass was built when some growth was expected, but not to this extent. It's basically obselete already. I really do hope they get that fixed. I remember my friends from Texarkana coming down here and thinking the traffic was horrendous in south Shreveport... and now they have the same problem in their own city.

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The problem is, the Cowhorn Creek overpass was built when some growth was expected, but not to this extent. It's basically obselete already. I really do hope they get that fixed. I remember my friends from Texarkana coming down here and thinking the traffic was horrendous in south Shreveport... and now they have the same problem in their own city.

Yeah, I remember when Stateline used to be the most congested road in Texarkana. Now Stateline doesn't have anything on Richmond. Summerhill traffic has greatly increased as well.

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Yeah, I remember when Stateline used to be the most congested road in Texarkana. Now Stateline doesn't have anything on Richmond. Summerhill traffic has greatly increased as well.

Loop 245 work to go forward

http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2...news/news19.txt

Also, work beginning on I-49 North will probably bgin late this year or early 2007! I'm really glad.

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Loop 245 work to go forward

http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2...news/news19.txt

Also, work beginning on I-49 North will probably bgin late this year or early 2007! I'm really glad.

Northwest Arkansas (Bentonville) poster here...what parts of I-49 in your neck of the woods are they going to be working on?

(A billionaire hotel/convention center owner was said in a local magazine quote to be believing the Kansas City / New Orleans I-49 corridor was going to be extremely important to my area (and I'm guessing yours) some day, though the Fort Smith/Texarkana segment will take a long time to finish. Work has yet to begin from SHV north to the Arkansas line as well, I'm guessing?)

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Northwest Arkansas (Bentonville) poster here...what parts of I-49 in your neck of the woods are they going to be working on?

(A billionaire hotel/convention center owner was said in a local magazine quote to be believing the Kansas City / New Orleans I-49 corridor was going to be extremely important to my area (and I'm guessing yours) some day, though the Fort Smith/Texarkana segment will take a long time to finish. Work has yet to begin from SHV north to the Arkansas line as well, I'm guessing?)

The section of I-49 from Texarkana to Ashdown is what will be worked on next. The portion from Texarkana south to the Louisiana state line is nearly finished except for 5 miles. That will be completed once works moves forward on the Shreveport to Arkansas state line section. Because of the future I-49 a lot of growth has occurred here and when this freeway is completed city officials say a lot more is on the way.

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The section of I-49 from Texarkana to Ashdown is what will be worked on next. The portion from Texarkana south to the Louisiana state line is nearly finished except for 5 miles. That will be completed once works moves forward on the Shreveport to Arkansas state line section. Because of the future I-49 a lot of growth has occurred here and when this freeway is completed city officials say a lot more is on the way.

Makes sense on the Ashdown section...I saw where a "flyover" had been built (to the paper plant?) when I was driving that highway back in 2003...that's a big, flat section of highway so different seeming than any other Arkansas stretch of U.S. 71 north of that town.

When that Houston to Shreveport interstate is also built some day...

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Makes sense on the Ashdown section...I saw where a "flyover" had been built (to the paper plant?) when I was driving that highway back in 2003...that's a big, flat section of highway so different seeming than any other Arkansas stretch of U.S. 71 north of that town.

When that Houston to Shreveport interstate is also built some day...

I haven't been to Ashdown in a couple of years so I had no idea they have built a flyover in that area.

Anyway, about that Houston to Shreveport freeway... I can't wait either. That's I-69 and it will come right by my house, finally completing the loop Shreveport has been working on for decades.

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I haven't been to Ashdown in a couple of years so I had no idea they have built a flyover in that area.

Anyway, about that Houston to Shreveport freeway... I can't wait either. That's I-69 and it will come right by my house, finally completing the loop Shreveport has been working on for decades.

SBC, we've been talking about it on the Northwest Arkansas forum but...when I-49 is connected between Fort Smith and SHV (with the currently planned and funded Bella Vista toll bypass in place) and if they could simply complete the Houston-SHV interstate is built...

MAN, will that be heavily used. I read an editorial in the Bentonville News back exactly four years ago when I first moved here that Fort Smith is expected to become the size of northwest Arkansas (currently about 420,000 in the metro area) when I-49 is completed. The rest of the country north and east of SHV will, I think, salivate at the Houston-SHV interstate connection...dodging the twisting U.S. 59 system currently in place with its multiple ramps, Nacogdoches / Lufkin traffic, etc.

That will be some type of nice system to have in place, whenever it comes.

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SBC, we've been talking about it on the Northwest Arkansas forum but...when I-49 is connected between Fort Smith and SHV (with the currently planned and funded Bella Vista toll bypass in place) and if they could simply complete the Houston-SHV interstate is built...

MAN, will that be heavily used. I read an editorial in the Bentonville News back exactly four years ago when I first moved here that Fort Smith is expected to become the size of northwest Arkansas (currently about 420,000 in the metro area) when I-49 is completed. The rest of the country north and east of SHV will, I think, salivate at the Houston-SHV interstate connection...dodging the twisting U.S. 59 system currently in place with its multiple ramps, Nacogdoches / Lufkin traffic, etc.

That will be some type of nice system to have in place, whenever it comes.

Oh yes, I hate the current Hwy. 59 in Texas. They're supposed to upgrade that entire stretch from Texarkana to Carthage or Lufkin, I believe, as a spur of I-69. It will also be great to be directly linked to Houston. Adding I-49 to the mix, and you guys up there have a nearly direct link as well. Right now I have to take I-20 to west Shreveport/Greenwood, and then drop down on US 79 to the Texas line where it meets Hwy 59. Then I have to take funky 59 all the way to Houston. A simpler route will be awesome.

I hadn't read anything about Ft. Smith's proposed growth due to the completed interstate, but I can see where the road would definitely benefit the area. It's been very beneficial to Shreveport and Lafayette so far, and soon will be beneficial to Texarkana once it's all linked up.

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MAN, will that be heavily used. I read an editorial in the Bentonville News back exactly four years ago when I first moved here that Fort Smith is expected to become the size of northwest Arkansas (currently about 420,000 in the metro area) when I-49 is completed.

The biggest economical gain I could see at that intersection I-40 and I-49 is some restaurants and truck stops.

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I admit there's a lot of bigger sized cities and they lie along the intersections of interstates. But I have to wonder, did the cities develop because of the interstates or did the interstates go to them because they were already well developed? I'd still say it would be a good thing for Ft Smith. But I wouldn't want to place too much emphasis on it. I wouldn't go as far as saying it would save any city either. But having easy access to a good north-south interstate could make a city more attractive to some companies and developers.

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I admit there's a lot of bigger sized cities and they lie along the intersections of interstates. But I have to wonder, did the cities develop because of the interstates or did the interstates go to them because they were already well developed? I'd still say it would be a good thing for Ft Smith. But I wouldn't want to place too much emphasis on it. I wouldn't go as far as saying it would save any city either. But having easy access to a good north-south interstate could make a city more attractive to some companies and developers.

You have to think about the cities. How many cities do you know that have really floundered since the beginning of the interstate system? I don't know, that's why I'm asking. ;)

But I will say that interstates DO fuel growth, because the cities want to attract people to actually stop and spend some time and money. Gas stations and restaurants are a good start, but in many cases power centers, outlet malls, and shopping malls like to build near interstates and their intersections, because of the high visibility and high traffic counts. Add feeder roads and you've got a recipe for success. If there is a railroad nearby, that's a plus as well because heavy industry likes to locate within a reasonable distance of interstate highways and railroads.

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Because of the future I-49 a lot of growth has occurred here and when this freeway is completed city officials say a lot more is on the way.

Of course local officials *always* say that.

You have to think about the cities. How many cities do you know that have really floundered since the beginning of the interstate system? I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

Well, for starters the rust belt cities of the upper mid-west in the past several decades. Those cities have excellent interstate acces.

----- Also, before anybody get too excited about future I-49, I'm telling you the traffic won't be that much. The current traffic on the eastern part of 245 loop/hwy 71 in Texarkana is lower than many 2-lane roads in NWA. I've seen the studies and traffic projections for the future I-49, even assuming full completion of it and hwy 59, even 20 years from now-- it was still lower than some 2-lane roads in regions like NWA. I'm not exagerating.

But yes, interstates do help out and yada yada, obviously as a publicly subsidized infrastructure, they are vital to the nation's economy.... and they are of major interest for locating shopping malls, industrial facilities, office parks, etc. But too much emphasis is placed on them by the general public, which is I think in large part due to politicians-- of course, they will likely blame any poor economy on something like lack of adequate infrastructure... and take lots of credit if he or his adminstration get a highway built (that's in part why ear-marks, aka pork-barrel money, are increasingly stuffed into transportation bills like crazy).

That's why I think NWA is the antithesis of this common notion-- it's economy was doing fine before four-lane highways. (Though that doesn't mean it doesn't need a lot of congestion relief). Though a good point to make might be that NWA's economy is doing better once something like I-540 to Alma opened (by cutting travel time substantially and relieving congestion).

Major urban congestion is a large cause of much delay in the US (which amounts to loss of economic production etc.), and deserves more attention than sexy ideas like completion of major freeways or 4-lane highway connections IMO. None of the studies or reports I've seen are convincing to anyone, period. Whenever you hear countless politicians selling their idea of some new interstate connection, rarely do I ever hear facts or stats to back up their claim.

However, IMO something like I-69 makes more sense, considering how much freight traffic I-30/I-40 handles through Arkansas, which is one of the heaviest truck routes in the US. In that regard, the need is a bit more obvious (identifing a current problem, rather than saying it will boost local economies and traffic will just pop up). When it comes to non-earmarked projects, that is the normal way of things to justify something major-- that is, it will help solve a current problem, not hopefully benefit local economies.

But another part of my skepticism is money-- I would be all for it if money would just fall out of the sky, but with all the problems going on right now with the federal budget and transportation funding, I don't see a remedy soon for mega billion $ projects in a relatively small and poor state like Arkansas. If Arkansas gets tons of ear-marks for I-49 by some miracle, then that would be great.

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You have to think about the cities. How many cities do you know that have really floundered since the beginning of the interstate system? I don't know, that's why I'm asking. ;)

But I will say that interstates DO fuel growth, because the cities want to attract people to actually stop and spend some time and money. Gas stations and restaurants are a good start, but in many cases power centers, outlet malls, and shopping malls like to build near interstates and their intersections, because of the high visibility and high traffic counts. Add feeder roads and you've got a recipe for success. If there is a railroad nearby, that's a plus as well because heavy industry likes to locate within a reasonable distance of interstate highways and railroads.

Brian, I agree with you! A lot of growth occurred here before any section of I-49 down here was completed. Many businesses came here just because they heard about the freeway coming through here. So, just imagine what commerce will come here when this road is finally finished.

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