Staying afloat

Port idea on Arkansas River a long-term goal

We have no idea whether a slackwater harbor on the Arkansas River near Van Buren will ever become a hotbed of freight-shipping activity that would include a rail terminal and an industrial park.

But we like the sound of it.

Apparently, so do some others far more knowledgeable than we are in the world of freight.

In late January, the Western Arkansas Intermodel Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with New Orleans-area Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District and inland waterway shipper American Patriot Container Transport LLC. of New Orleans. It’s an establishment of a relationship that lends credence to the western Arkansas idea.

The news was welcomed by the authority as it came just days after the nation’s largest intermodel port operator ended its feasibility study for western Arkansas, effectively ending its considerations for now.

Those hoping for a big development near Van Buren say others are interested.

The authority has worked for years on developing a port that could encompass up to 6,000 acres, include a slackwater harbor and a rail-to-truck or rail-to-river terminal. The eightyear-old authority includes the mayors of Van Buren and Fort Smith and the county judges from Sebastian and Crawford counties, along with community leaders from the two counties.

Certainly progress has been slow, and it’s legitimate for doubters to question whether it’s all a pipe dream, like the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Benton County was for so many years. Like Interstate 49 seemed for decades.

One day, it sure seems, that port is going to make perfect sense. And when that happens, the legwork the authority’s members have put in will pay dividends. So they keep appreciating whatever advancements they can make.

And why not? If such a project were easy, it wouldn’t take a government authority to make it happen. Sometimes it just takes time and, yes, some money, to open people’s eyes to the possibilities.

Nobody can say the project is afloat, but it ain’t sunk, either.