slyder1

I was wondering if Allegiant has started the LA and Vegas flights out of XNA yet? Has there been any other destinations added from allegiant? For anyone who wants to see them, the link below is to photos of the new Midfield Terminal in Springfield. http://www.flyspringfield.com/scrapbook/index.htm BTW... the Branson airport is reportedly doing very well. All the flights have been almost full thus far.

I really don't understand why the people in charge of this WAC Expansion Committee are still trying to figure out what to do. The answer is plain and simple... Tear down the current WAC and build anew, even if it means to be without a theater for one freak'n year! Doesn't the Arend Arts Center have 1,100 seats(same as WAC) anyway!? They could just use Arend for one year even though they might not get all the shows they would have because of stage dimensions, lighting, sound, etc... Fayetteville is where the character of NWA lives, and thus is where the WAC should remain. After visiting the Mann Center website and seeing the high calliber of talent Mr. Lane brought to the theater, he should be able to light a fire under these idiots that are currently in charge. Of course it wouldn't be all bad news if the WAC left Fayetteville. UA could take over Baum Theater, and if there are enough theater freaks in Fayetteville, maybe a semi-proffesional theater company will emerge.

I knew they would come... I would bet that Orlando and Tampa are next, maybe Pheonix. I was always befuddled as to why they weren't flying out of XNA 3 years ago.

Yeah... I know, it's stupid that we have two airports but it looks like these guys that built Branson's airport will be making a very pretty penny. You have to admit that it is impressive how they have managed to get these airlines to commit before they even open. What I meant about the competition is that out of Springfield's 13 destinations 5 are low cost: LAX, Pheonix, Las Vegas, Orlando and Tampa, with Minneapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Denver, Dallas, Memphis, and Detroit not being low-cost. Now that Branson has Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee (with a fourth coming Dallas and/or Denver) being low cost, people from Springfield will start flying out of Branson to the low cost destinations that we don't have causing the airlines to lower their prices out of Springfield. I know we have to wait and see how Branson will do, but I'm not as skeptical as I was before.

Well, today Alligient Airlines announced that they will be bringing nonstop flights from XNA to LAX. The twice a week flights will take place on Mondays and Fridays. I bet XNA will soon have many other destinations from Alligient. Today, Branson Airport announced that Minneapolis will be the next destination to the entertainment meca with another to be announced next week. So far, Branson has four nonstop/low-cost carries with more to come. This is going to create great competition between Springfield and Branson which will in turn lower the cost of flights out of Springfield.

It's actually Springfield getting the LAX flight, Branson has Atlanta and Millwaukee. I'm glad that SGF will only have 4 scheduled flights a week, that way we don't get in over our heads. I'm sure it will be a huge hit since round trip tickets are only $220.

What! Thats shocking, was the flight daily, weekly...? Allgient just announced a week ago that Springfield will get a direct flight to LAX starting in May when the new terminal opens. Then you have Branson that just announced direct fligtst to Milwaukee and Atlanta starting in May as well. I just don't understand why Alligient or Airtran aren't flying out of XNA yet. Are there any other low cost airlines out of XNA?

What ever happened to widening I-540 to 6 lanes? This is what ARDOT should be focusing on instead of a pipe dream like the Light Rail. There is no way NWA can compete with other cities for funding for a light Rial project on this scale. I-540 is the best bet right now and they better jump on the waggon while they can. When MODOT gets its share of the Simulus money they will start wideing Hwy. 60 from Republic to Monett as well as widening Hwy. 65 in Springfield to 6 lanes from 44 to James River Freeway, and various other projects.

The News-leader reported that a new Interchange will be built on Hwy. 65 between Battlefield Rd. and James River Freeway. The new interchange will provide access to the new 400 million dollar development on either of Hwy. 65. Construction will begin when Hwy. 65 is widened to 6 lanes in winter 09'-10'.

I just visited the OTO's website and they have a new map of the Regional and Statewide priorities for Springfield. If the Stimulus package is passed they said that they would start the widening of US 65 to six lanes from I-44 to James River Freeway, widen I-44 to six lanes from James River Freeway to 125 in Strafford and many other projects. Here is the pdf link to the map: http://www.ozarkstransportation.org/Docume...ignificance.pdf Link to OTO's website: http://www.ozarkstransportation.org/Priorities.html

Good to see that Big Whiskey's is open in the River Market. They just franchised the restaurant last year and are planning a location in Fayetteville, Tulsa, and south Springfield. The people that opened the restaurant also started an awesome martini lounge/bar called Parlor 88, which I would be on the lookout for an annoucenment for one in the River Market soon. I would bet anything that BW's will be a River Market mainstay for a while...Can't go wrong with lots of TV's, cheap drinks, and great food.

ha ha... I was just thinking that before I opened this topic. I would think that the name change would start a renewed interest in the area as far as funding, and potential students in and out of State. I've wondered why this wasn't done long ago. When they dropped "Southwest" on Missouri State Universty, enrollment exploded and the capital funding. MSU now has over 21,000 students and is growing exponentially every year.

After reading on and on about the building of a new Performing Arts Center in NWA, I have many questions as to why certain people, groups, organizations, UA aren't stepping in. Now I know only a very small group (Waltons) are able to donate that amount needed to build this thing, but the one that I'm surprised by the most is the University of Arkansas! With the amount of money this University has, it is really stupid that they don't build their own facility. Not only would it help the music department down there, (which needs it) but the University would make ton's of money. The only reason Juanita K. Hammons Hall was built here in Springfield is because of the University and of course Hammons. What many of you don't know is that the city actually tried to pass a city tax to build a Civic Center before but it failed due to the city already having 2 theaters downtown with over 1,200 seats. Now I know Fayetteville doesn't have that luxury but if they want the Center to stay on Dickson the University and the city needs to step up to the plate TOGETHER and make this thing happen. The only way to keep it on Dickson is to raze the current and build anew. I have seen the site that the Waltons Arts Center sits on and its no smaller than the one Hammons Hall is on up here, and let me remind you that Hammons Hall has 2,300 seats. It can be done but the people need to speak out, and the University needs to get off their arse and do something as well.

^and again, I never should have mentioned the name "Southwest." Talking about low cost airlines... I've always wondered why aligient doesn't fly out of XNA. Aligient just added Pheonix to Springfield in October making that 5 destinations from Springfield on Aligient. While other airlines are doing bad in the current economic crisis, Aligient's flights out of Springfield are growing to which is why they added the Pheonix flight. I just wonder when the idiots heading up the airlines are gonna pull their heads from where the light don't shine and use their brains. Now I know with the current economic crisis, getting new flights is something out of the ordinary but when the economy rebounds, I hope we will see a new light in the airline industry.

Alot of us thought they should just build the new terminal between Springfield and Branson, but the topography was not something they could really work with, let alone the cost of doing that. Even though the study Branson did found 5.3 million people come from over a 300 mile radius, they came to the conclusion that even if only 15% of the 5.3 million flew to Branson, that would still be a whopping 780,000 passengers right off the bat. That is also not inlcuding the people they would draw in by adding the flight to those cities. Now for those of you that still think Branson is a cesspool for broke, old, toothless, farts, please refrain from commenting as it is obvious that you dont know what your talking about. Yes, it is true that you will find the occasional "hick" in Branson, but the average person to visit Branson is your normal suburban family. We are in the 21st century now and Branson is right there with everyone else. Gee I wonder who would fill all of those exspensive condo rentals, maybe those old broke farts right? Give me a break. Sorry for going off topic, but I sick of hearing this stupid pathetic BS about Branson. And no, I'm not in love with Branson.

That is odd they canceled the LAX flight out of XNA, I thought it was doing well myself. Im sure its the economy that propelled the decision. I take it that XNA is still doing well though. I also wanted to point out to some that might not know, Branson is currently building the first privately funded commercial airport in US history. They have stated that a low cost airline will be flying out of there, but the details are not yet known. Of the 8 million visitors Branson has every year, 5.3 million come from beyond a 300 mile radius. I wonder if they get Southwest to fly out of Bransons major advertisement markets like Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, OKC... what that would do to SGF or XNA. Im sure it would'nt have much of an effect on either airports but the thought still remains for me. I guess all I can do is wait. BTW if you haven't visited the SGF airport website, you should check out the new terminal thats almost done up here. It's nice! www.flyspringfield.com www.flybranson.com

After reading through this topic, I don't understand why this WAC committee doesn't want to bulldoze the current building. Is is parking?... Is is lack of space?... If they are basing this off of a parking garage not fitting then that would be ludicrous. People will park elsewhere and walk, you don't need a parking garage attached to the building. But yes, it would be nice to have it there. Anyway's taking this off Dickson would be very stupid as it would take away that artsy/performance feel to the Dickson/ Downtown area. Here is Springfield Juanita K. Hammon's Hall is actually on the MSU campus which is downtown in the Walnut street area. To me the whole area would feel different if it was built off a highway somewhere. Take for instance the First Friday Artwalks. There is alway's a performance going on in the Hall during these Monthly Artwalks wether it be the Springfield Symphony or a braodway play. What if Fayetteville started an artwalk and the WAC was in Rogers somewhere... It just wouldn't feel right. Why don't they try and get corporate donations, or try and sell naming rights! I just don't like the fact that they would move this to a suburban scene instead of keeping it around the Dickson/ UofA area.

Here are the rendering's of the new Kansas Exp./13 and I-44 Interchange:

I'm still confused about this whole tunnel under National thing. I don't understand if you access it off JRF or National. They say it will go "under National" and connect with the emergency exit. I will say that the Cox South Emergency Entrance Exit is pretty poor access. St. John's beats them by a mile, and in every other category as far as im concerned.

It was in the Sunday News-Leader. All they said was "a major bridge rehabilitation on Kansas Exspressway." I was thinking about this 1/8 cent sales tax and people would be stupid not to approve it. I understand that the economy is crap, but this is the only tax on the ballet this August and all of these road improvements for only 12.6 cents "IF" you spend $100! Come on! I hope that once the economy rebounds, the next time this tax rolls around in 2012 they make it 1/4 cent tax.

I am excited about alot of these projects but not the construction. Just imagine what National and JRF will be like. AHHHHHH!! We gotta get em' done some time right! I also read about the widening of 65 from I-44 to Ozark on the MODOT website, but I wonder when they will finish it. There was also another big project at the Kansas Expressway Bridge over the Stockyards. It will be rehabilitated.

Great photos! It's crazy to see the progress in that certain area of NWA. Every time I visit my friend down in Fayetteville, driving past Rogers on I-540 alway's gets my attention. There is usually something new everytime. I wish there was a topic in this forum that was just photos for all of the NWA cities. I really like to see the photos but I hardly ever find any.

No matter what they do at this intersection 13 will alway's be backed up until flyovers are put in. If this design can work for this interchange for at least 5-7 years, then I have no doubt that it would work for interchanges in NWA. Current traffic counts at this intersection are over 100,000, and trust me I-44 is much more than I-540. I will agree though, I was shocked when they announced that they would not be building a wider overpass to accomadate 6 lanes in both directions. If by circles you mean the cloverleaf design, those kinds of interchanges are whats causing problems at some of Springfield's busiest interchanges. That is what I-44 and 65 was before it was replaced with flyovers, and the same can be said for 65/60 interchange which is getting flyovers as well. Cloverleafs are for LOW volume interchanges because of the very short merge lanes. ARDOT would be insane to even think about putting cloverleafs in at any interchange in NWA.

I wanted to get some of your thoughts on a new interchange going in at I-44 and 13 in Springfield. The reason I posted this in your forum is because I thought that with NWA finding it hard to get funding for its major roads/ interchanges, I believe this would be a very fast, cheap, and easy way to solve at least some of the traffic problems down there. MoDOT's plan for rebuilding the I-44/Route 13 interchange in Springfield is called a Diverging Diamond Interchange. It's the first of its type built in the USA. The I-44/Route 13 (Kansas Expressway) project is aimed at reducing congestion and improving safety at the interchange. The Interchange will be quicker, cheaper to build than a more conventional interchange project. The I-44/Route 13 interchange project is estimated to cost $2.5 million and construction is scheduled to begin in January 2009 with completion in the summer/fall of 2009. The Diverging Diamond Interchange design allows the opposing lanes of Route 13 to criss-cross at traffic signals at the ends of the bridge over I-44. Crossing the bridge, oncoming traffic is on the right, separated by concrete barriers and screening. This will give left-turning vehicles on Route 13 a "free left" to the I-44 on-ramp. At the same time, traffic continuing north or south on Route 13 will be able to travel more steadily THROUGH the interchange.

I-44 and MO 13 (Kansas Exspressway) Interchange getting a makover... FINALY!! The first Diverging Diamond Interchange in the US! Link to rendering and information about Diverging Interchange: http://www.news-leader.com/assets/pdf/DO10...3kOTiUOyqLhg%3D The best rendering is in the Friday News-Leader. MODOT put a photo of what the interhcange will look like.