Inequitable impact

Our world-class new Walmart Home Office should be bordered by a world-class road that is a beacon for Bentonville and Walmart as the company nears the 20th anniversary of its sustainability journey. Many citizens, including myself, are concerned about ArDOT plans to expand a mile of southeast 14th Street in Bentonville into six lanes, taking at least 50 percent more land. With expensive infrastructure on the north side, it is obvious south-side residents and businesses will be inequitably impacted.

Road-building has a history of deepening inequity and as currently presented we will see this play out with this project. These homes are modest; businesses are small; these citizens are our hardworking middle class. Once construction begins, customers won’t be able to patronize these businesses. When property is acquired, these citizens will just receive assessed values, not market value. Once built, south-siders will experience even more noise and hazardous air pollution. More pavement also means more runoff and possibly flooding.

Would six lanes be necessary if the road were smartly designed with roundabouts and right-turn lanes absent from the current stretch and ArDOT plan? Has commuter pointto-point bus transportation or other smart transportation solutions been explored and tried? These would require education, a cultural shift, and take time, but citizens and Walmart associates would see the benefit of not sitting in traffic.

We need a solution aligned with the size of our community, intentionally designed with smart transportation solutions that reduce the impact on our neighborhoods, and that justly compensates those most affected. We need ArDOT to demonstrate it can be more than a department of road-building.

ArDOT’s short comment period ends at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 29. Make your views known: www.bentonvillehwy102.com/comment.

BETH KECK

Bentonville