Public comment sought on bus plan

FORT SMITH — Local residents will be able to weigh in on a proposed addition to a bus route that would have a future Veterans Affairs clinic as a bus stop.

The Fort Smith Transit Advisory Commission unanimously voted to open a 30day public hearing for a proposed addition to the Towson fixed route during its meeting Thursday.

Fort Smith Transit Department Director Ken Savage wrote in a memo to the commission that the addition would extend the route from the Target Pavilion area on Phoenix Avenue to South 66th Street and back. A small stretch of Fresno and South 62nd Street would be utilized as a turnaround point. David Hewitt, driver lead person for the transit agency, said in a previous Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article that the proposal adds about 3 miles to the route.

The Towson fixed route has received interest ahead of a new VA clinic that will be located at 5500 Phoenix Ave., according to Savage. A number of businesses and restaurants along the same street would also be more accessible if the route was extended slightly eastward of its current service location. The route serves a small portion of Phoenix Avenue as it is.

Savage said the transit staff has expressed confidence that the extension can happen with “little or no negative impacts” to the current service.

“To facilitate this change, the Towson bus would leave the Walmart Supercenter on Zero Street five minutes earlier (in lieu of staging), and continue the remainder of the route to include the new addition,” Savage wrote. “Bus stop times along 31st Street and Phoenix Avenue between the supercenter and Target Pavilion would need to be altered five minutes earlier in order to accommodate the extension.”

Savage said after the meeting that the Transit Department will post the public hearing on the City of Fort Smith website and request any input or concerns with the proposed addition.