Alma focuses on rebranding as ‘Crossroads of America’

ALMA, Ark.—A concentration on connectivity is changing the landscape of Alma as it works to rebrand itself as the "Crossroads of America."

With the $9.5 million Arkansas 162 relocation project nearly complete, city plans call for a string of street overlays, sidewalks and paths to connect residential neighborhoods, schools, parks and community buildings. It is starting with a 900foot stretch at the Alma Boys & Girls Club, but plans also call for sidewalks along major thoroughfares of Maple Shade Drive and Collum Lane to U.S. 71.

"Sidewalks allow safe travel for people and these will be for important places, from the post office to the intermediate school, the city park, the water park, the community building and the lake trail," Alma Mayor Keith Greene said.

The Times Record (http://bit.ly/2nwi46c ) reports that following completion of the new Arkansas 162 bridge over the railroad tracks, Fayetteville Road downtown will be turned back over to the city. Work is expected to begin this summer turning the former state highway into a tree-scaped island. Angled parking is being traded out for parallel parking spots with increased off-street parking.

"It's a long time coming," Greene said of the downtown boulevard. "It will change the complexion of the city big time in the coming years."

There was a minimal loss of parking spaces by changing to parallel parking, about two parking spaces. Abandoned or unused buildings were purchased by the city and demolished to make room for the off-street parking.

Greene's hopes of an early spring completion for the Arkansas 162 relocation project were delayed because of a problem with bearing pads that cushion steel girders for the bridge. There was also the need to relocate several power poles that will interfere with the traffic signals on U.S. 64.

The city recently received a $42,000 matching grant from the Arkansas Parks & Tourism Department's Life Advisory Committee for the 900-foot stretch of an 8-foot-wide walking path that will connect a residential neighborhood to the Alma Boys & Girls Club.

"The significance of this grant is that it is the beginning of a hard-surface path that begins on the southeast part of the city and will eventually connect to the northwest part of the city," Greene wrote in a letter about the grant.

The path will be reduced to 6 feet wide on the west side of the Boys & Girls Club entrance and proceed to the traffic signal controlled intersection of East Main and Henry streets, the mayor adds.

From there, pedestrians can safely walk to the downtown area, the library, three of the four Alma schools, the city park, water park, Alma Community Building and many Alma businesses. The city received an earlier grant for sidewalks to be constructed on Collum Lane, Maple Shade Road and Rudy Road. The projects are scheduled for completion this year and 2018. Street overlays in Alma are also planned with sidewalks along those routes.

Alma Planner Director Buddy Gray said he is working with the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District (WAPDD) to set up meetings next month for public input on trails in the city's master plan.

"We hope we can tie onto the end of that with a big circle around the Boys & Girls Club," Greene said of a city master plan that calls for more walking paths around the city.

Alma's rebranding to the "Crossroads of America" from "Spinach Capital of the World" comes a few years after Allen Canning's Popeye Spinach cannery ceased operation. But it also takes into account the possibility of Alma serving as gateway for a future Interstate 49 bridge over the Arkansas River to Barling.

Gard Wayt, executive director of the I-49 Coalition, recently told regional city leaders at a WAPDD meeting that finishing the 13.7-mile stretch of I-49 between I-40 and Arkansas 22 in Fort Smith is a high priority.

"We may see that bridge before the next 10 years are out," Greene added.

The Alma mayor pointed out a request to fund more than $27 million in preliminary engineering for an I-49 bridge over the Arkansas River from Alma to Barling was included in the draft 2016-2020 State Transportation Improvement Plan.

When complete, I-49 will cross nine existing east/west interstates from Winnipeg to New Orleans. The missing link is about 150 miles between Fort Smith and Texarkana that will cost an estimated $2.5 billion to complete in the long run, according to Wayt. For now, the focus is to finish the 13.7 miles between I-40 and Arkansas 22.

In April, the Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization released estimates showing population increases over the next 20 years. The estimates use U.S. Census data and sources such as the Arkansas Municipal League and University of Arkansas in Little Rock.

Alma and Barling are expected to see the second- and thirdmost growth in the region, respectively. Alma, which lies on U.S. 64 east of Van Buren, is expected to increase in population more than 80 percent: 5,600 in 2015 to a projected 10,259 in 2040.

In his recent state of the city address, Greene noted several Alma Public Works Department projects that were recently completed, including a $1.5 million, Phase 1, water and sanitary sewer improvement project, new perimeter fencing at the wastewater treatment plant and design work for the downtown Fayetteville Road waterline relocation project. A $1.6 million, Phase 2, sanitary sewer project contract has also been awarded.

A street and drainage project totaling $350,000 is ready for bids, and the city improved the road from its fishing pier parking area to the handicapped parking area. A warm-weather mosquito control program has also been created.

"The future of Alma throughout this year and into 2018 looks to be bright and exciting with all the projects that are planned," Greene wrote. "The possibility of a port facility in Crawford County is another element for the prosperity of this region. Our part of Arkansas has a lot to be thankful for."