Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Transportation plan connecting
Residents give recommendations at Mobility Planning Workshop
FAYETTEVILLE — Consultants hired to update the city’s transportation plan know street connections, sidewalks and trails can dramatically improve a neighborhood but residents know where to put them.
As such, San Francisco-based Nelson/Nygaard mobility firm unveiled on Tuesday the findings of an extensive transportation study but kept open the possibility for changes and more resident input. The report compiles feedback from several workshops and online surveys, incorporating the information with discussion from city staff and Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department officials.
The City Council awarded a $585,000 contract to Nelson/Nygaard in March 2016 to overhaul the city’s parking and transportation plans. The council should vote on a final version of the plans as a package deal in the fall.
Some simple recommendations would go a long way in better-connecting the city, according to the study. Automatic walking indicators in high-volume areas such as downtown, instead of having to push a button to cross, would keep pedestrian traffic flowing smoothly. Just more than a mile of new sidewalk throughout the city would complete paths for hundreds of residents walking from one point to another. Protecting bike lanes with bumps, vegetation, rails in the road or anything to separate bicyclists from vehicles could abate the fear some residents might have to opt for two wheels.
The study lists several potential street connections. The consultants used an algorithm to calculate the time saved motorists would spend on the road with each connection. Completing the northwest corner of “Mayor’s Box” around the city from Rupple Road north to Howard Nickell Road and east to Van Asche Drive will cut the average time on the road for commuters by 40 percent, according to the study.
Other connections, such as extending Rolling Hills Drive to Crossover Road and linking Persimmon and Cleveland streets, would have a 2 percent effect, still would make a noticeable difference, said Zabe Bent with Nelson/ Nygaard.
“To see a 2 percent change is actually moving the needle on about 100,000 people,” she said.
Some changes will take significant coordination and effort. The study recommends eventually cutting off left turns from Dickson Street onto West Avenue because the combination of more students, a railroad crossing and general traffic will cause cars to stifle on the main drag of
downtown. The plan makes several recommendations to route traffic to other areas and keep cars from having to make that turn in the first place.
“Anytime you can eliminate left turns from an intersection you increase the efficiency of the intersection,” City Engineer Chris Brown said. “The problem is people have got to turn left or get south of Dickson somehow.”
A small group gathered in front of the Adult Education Center at 612 S. College Ave. and walked to the library for a presentation on the study Thursday evening. The residents called on the city to take over that stretch of College Avenue and Archibald Yell Boulevard at Rock Street down to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. Roads can go up to 450 feet in between crossings in that part of town, according to the study.
The Highway Department has made clear its willingness to relinquish control of such areas to local municipalities, but the city would have to take over a huge stretch in between intersections, not just a segment that ends at after a certain amount of feet, Brown said.
“It’s a lot of money to maintain a road like that,” Mayor Lioneld Jordan said. “We’d have to run the numbers. I’m not closed to the idea, but I certainly would want to know the cost would be to maintain a road like that.
The city tried putting in a crosswalk on Archibald Yell Boulevard when Jordan served on the City Council. Crews quickly removed it because it was too dangerous, Jordan said. Such a crossing needs beacons to alert drivers where pedestrians cross around the curve, he said.
Everything Brady Carman visits with his 3-year-old daughter, Margaret, lies on the other side of Archibald Yell from where the family lives. The consultants recommended a “road diet” that would cut the street down to three lanes with a turning lane in the middle and put a sidewalk and trail on either side, shortening the crossing distance.
Something needs to happen to allow residents to safely cross the four lanes of traffic, Carman said.
“It’s one thing to run by yourself, but we have a 3-year-old and 1-year-old. It’s a much different story,” he said. “You’re cutting off huge neighborhoods from places you want to go to, so we just need more crosswalks. It shouldn’t be scary if you want to cross.”