Could rail be priority?

Well, hallelujah, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., arrived by rail for a meeting with Donald Trump. Could this be a sign that at least one Arkansas officeholder will soon support commuter rail? Could we soon see funds revert from highway to rail spending? Could Arkansas commuters finally get a break?

Well, no, no and, well, no would be my guess.

Oh sure, there have been official transportation studies that included passenger rail. I even put in my two cents in 2015 by suggesting to the Arkansas intermodal transportation planning study that we should construct a commuter rail between Little Rock and Hot Springs. Evidently my suggestion was as well-received as my 2001 plea to the state Legislature to have state funds allocated for commuter rail (specifically between Little Rock and Hot Springs). As it turns out, commuter rail service from Little Rock to Hot Springs has never been on anyone’s master plan. However, highway expansion has been at the top of a lot of official lists.

So here we are knocking on the door of 2017 and the state of Arkansas is undertaking the largest highway construction program in its history. Thirty-six road projects at a cost of $1.8 billion from a 10-year half-cent consumer tax created in 2012, but not one cent for commuter rail service. And if you live in Garland County, brace yourself—two of the five-lane expansion projects will soon commence on U.S. 70 east to I-30 and U.S. 270 west to Lake Ouachita. And when these two projects are completed in four years, yes, there will be a temporary relief to traffic congestion, but then the phenomena of induced traffic will kick in, and our same old traffic problems will continue. JANIS PERCEFULL Hot Springs