[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

Just remembered something that I feel I have to add to the discussion, light rail on A&M tracks cannot and will not ever happen, huge brain fart on my part.

Regulations set by the FRA prohibit it from happening. So those sleek little rail cars you see in Seatle, Dallas, Portland and even the Little Rock Trolly cannot be brought here unless the region builds its own tracks that have absolutly no connection to a freight line.

For cars to operate on a active rail line you would be looking at much heavier, bigger and less effecient rail cars to meet crash worthiness standards. These standards are why the Acela in the NE weights twice as much as any European counterpart. You would in essence be using full size commuter rail cars.

Which mayorial candidate was the one who panders to everyone, I believe he is a pusher of this misconception.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

Skull Creek is officially opening tomorrow even though they are not exactly done, Sycamore and North still have crossing work to be done.

But today I cheated and used the trail and a bike trailer, kid included, to go grocery shopping at walmart.

Total transit time was roughly the same as it would be to drive and it gave me a workout excuse to buy and eat doughnuts.

As for intercity rail between Little Rock and Memphis it would be a great idea. Unfortunately Amtrak's routing is not designed as intercity rail but rather to go through enough congressional districts and cut costs. I am not a rail nut, if I have to go somewhere in a time period rail has to be time effective so intercity pairs are far better than long distant trains that do not serve logical city pairs. Just look at the map and you will see that Little Rock should be connected to Memphis and Memphis should then be connected to St. Louis, this however is not how it works.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

Thought I'd mention something else. I'd read recently about someone putting in a high speed rail between Little Rock and Memphis at some point in the near future. I knew there was a rail service going through part of Arkansas but never realized it was considered high speed.

There are all of 15 miles of actual high speed track (150+) in this country, that is between NYC and Boston on a small portion of the NEC. So I can assure you there is no high speed track, or even +80 in this state. When the line gets past St. Louis, and before Chicago I believe the track is rated for up to 110.

The line currently runs from Little Rock down through Texarkana to Dallas. Then it runs from Dallas to Austin and San Antonio. There's also

That would be the Texas eagle which I have ridden on from Little Rock to Chicago then transfered to another Amtrak route to NYC.

another line that runs from Dallas to Oklahoma City and then ends in Tulsa.

That is a state supported train called the heartland flyer, which it will soon, or rather one day, connect to Kansas City thanks to a venture by the state of Kansas to fund the extension through their state and into Missouri.

Edit:

I had further broken up your text into further quotes but the board is giving me errors. Use your imagination to realization what points this where in response to.

Congress recently passed by a veto proof margin the Amtrak reathorization bill (Boozemen voted against it), the first time Amtrak has been officially authorized by congress since 1995, Giving Amtrak something around $13 billion for several years and some route expansion, they are considering reinstating another route through Montana which is an extremely well utilized route, it almost breaks even and is rarely not sold out as well as reinstating the pioneer route from Portland to Salt Lake City.

The money you are talking about is from the FTA and is federal matching grant money, such as highway construction for local run transit agencies. I hope this money is only spent in the corriders that desperately need it first, the populated areas of the country such as the North East Corrider, the Texas Triangle, California, Cascadia, the mid west and Florida. With all the money these areas give to the fed you will be very suprised to understand how little they get back and how deceped their infrastructure is, with the exception of the Mid west and Florida, because politicians like to buy electorial votes.

You will probably never see a new interstate rail line laid in this country ever again. It costs far to much money and far to many people will suddenly see fit to sue. With the exception of most of the North East Corrider (look up conrail) Amtrak owns absolutly none of the rail it operates on, so they are beholdent to mile long freight trains that go 50 mph. So if Amtrak were to run in the river valley towards anywhere it would be on a combination of Burlington Northern, Union Pacific and Arkansas and Missouri ROW.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

From a conversation with a driver;

Razorback transit seems to be having issues.

Apparently they will loose all federal funding, except for maintenance, after the 2010 census, where in some form of backwards logic the area will then become to populous to receive fed monies. Since the last year diesel prices have gone up substantially, around %100 and a number of the buses have become very unreliable, also due to budget restraints the university has pulled funding.

They were apparently considering initiating a fare, where a card swipe would debit or let students on. But it was determined that it would reduce public ridership and not provide a ROI.

So according to said driver one evening last week they surprised everyone with Verizon ads. They apparently took offers for much more lucrative ads but, if it displaced the pig it was not accepted. So expect more prominent and intrusive ads soon.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

What I believe I have lacked in my prior statements is that I view rail as a great way to encourage density. NWA is very much in a change or die situation, the area was built upon ICE transportation and its commercial and residential districts where foolishly segregated. If you believe a new fuel source is the solution to the area's problems and one which will allow the current lifestyle of the region to continue, then god bless you. I do not subscribe to this belief, a lifestyle change is what is needed, density and less reliance on low density transportation.

Rail just ads a feeling of permanence, establishes a core area and usually boosts the property value of those owning the surrounding land. It is one of the key factors in creating density.

When people can no longer afford to live here, the area will/should die, remember Arkansas is dirt poor and much more income is expended on transportation in this area. In NYC I spent $82 a month to go where ever I wanted within 300 square miles, how ever many times I wanted and the %9 sales tax in Fayetteville has not made my budget that much smaller than it was in NYC. I assume you have all been experiencing the rapid spikes in gas prices.

To summarize, it is my belief that NWA needs to force itself into much denser development, rail is very much a way to encourage that development, and if denser development does not happen economics will force people to leave and the area will simply die.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

The comments about light rail/public transportation are fascinating. I think its great to dream big. Let me offer my thoughts:

First, population density in NWA, or lack thereof makes this idea completely unrealistic. Its currently nowhere even close.

Second, comments about traffic are all relative. People from larger metros would view NWA traffic issues as a non issue.

Third, and perhaps this is most telling...what would fundamentally be the incentive for light-rail demand between these various cities? I mean, you look at a map and geographically it makes sense, but honestly, why or how often would someone want or need to go between Bentonville and Springdale, or Fayetteville and Rogers? NWA is fundamentally suburban in nature, and there is no real centrality, thus focus or "gravity" for moving people between where they live and where they work. There is no urban center, no downtown. A little bit of everything is available pretty much everywhere - there's not much of a reason to go between Rogers and Fayetteville. Its more of the same. The airport "might" be an option, but its not on the axis.

Realize this: people will NOT utilize public transportation until it is MORE convenient and LESS expensive than driving, AND until there is a real need to go somewhere. If NWA quadruples in size, a dominate urban center develops, and gas is $10/gallon, then maybe. Its a cool idea though...

I have to disagree with your density argument and convenience argument.

Before the great streetcar conspiracy by the big three automakers, which really screwed up this country, you use to be able to take different street cars from Boston all the way to Chicago without walking but a few miles. This negates your density argument as I have both driven and taken Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited on this route, there is a lot of empty space and small towns.

As for convenience as long as the services runs frequently enough and at the right time periods, public transportation will always be more convenient for commutes, unless you are scared of your fellow human being.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

The NWA Regional Mobility Authority had their first meeting. It sounds like there will be difficulty is choosing which projects to move on first with the Benton County members saying the Bella Vista bypass should be first and Washington County members saying the North Springdale bypass being the priority. There is a difference in opinion on the western bypass also with Centerton liking the idea and Fayetteville against it.

the idea of grouping projects was suggested and may be a way for comon ground to be found.

I had hoped dealing with I540 would be the priority seeing how it is already in place and needing improvements badly. Seems like you would want to take care of the immediate problems before you create new ones.

NWANews.com article

Nice to see regional mobility is defined as "bypasses."

Well the %10 sales tax in Fayetteville makes Manhattan look cheap, so I hope they do not increase it in order to fund useless roads. Why hasn't a more obvious question been asked?

Gas prices have a significant ceiling price.

Arkansas residents are dirt poor when you follow median income.

Total vehicular miles driven have decreased significantly.

Why would you build more roads/lanes if demand for such roads/lanes will go down?

Sorry but roads are no longer an engine of economic growth.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

Welcome to the forum. Yeah it's pretty easy to see that public transportation isn't well respected by most of the population here. Although I think part of that is just the fact that public transportation is seen differently in this part of the country as opposed to where you're from. But even so I'd say we rate pretty poorly even to other metros in the region. I do think there are some that accept it. But until people are more willing to accept density though, it's going to be hard to get public transportation to work very well.

Well there is no way anyone can look at the monstrosity that is the NWA Mall area and College Ave. and say that is efficient/smart/practical design. That is parking lot hell up there, they do not even have sidewalks, let alone commercial residential mixed zoning. I understand how it got like this, but do not understand why people enjoy this kind of auto centric, isolationist and unhealthy quality of life.

[Transportation Projects, Roads, Light Rail, etc]

I'm working on new routes, but there aren't a lot of options, unfortunately. I do think it may have gotten worse recently, I moved on the first of August, and it didn't seem quite as bad then, but the Wedington exit was still bad. I think you're right about Benton County though, I made the mistake of going up to visit some family staying at a hotel up there and go to the Promenade around 4:30-5 in the evening and it wasn't exactly fun.

I just need to say, as a New Yorker who moved to Fayetteville in August, what traffic are you talking about? Where is this traffic that would justify millions of dollars to expand a highway or create a new one. Aside from the fact that in my experience lane expansions never ease traffic. From what I have seen you people are talking about traffic burdens that add a grand total of 5 minutes to your commute.

That money would be much better served converting the A&M railroad to overhead catenary, buy EMU railcars, and rerouting ORT Bus, even razorback transit to service the new train stations, with a unified ticketing system.

I say this with bias, because even though I have a luxury car and the money to fill its premium tank up, I just hate driving and love public transit.

And having that railroad in the position it is, it such a potential blessing to the region if it would only use it.