Hwy 16E (Huntsville Rd in Fayetteville)

[angue]

As a resident of Elkins and an employee in Fayetteville, I believe Hwy 16E from Elkins to Fayetteville is in desperate need of improvement. What can take only 15 minutes any other time of day takes an hour to drive. Before and after work/school, Hwy 16E is a nonstop sea of vehicles in both lanes.

One of my greatest concerns is emergency responses during this traffic. Fayetteville's Fire Station 5 must come from the Hyland Park area on Crossover (Hwy 265) all the way out to the Fayetteville/Elkins City limits in medical and fire emergencies. With barely a shoulder on either side of the Hwy, would the fire department and/or ambulance be able to make their 7 min response goal to the City limits? I don't believe so.

Even at 6:00 am, on my way home, I get behind school buses and trash trucks that I cannot pass because of the very few passing lanes and lack of a second lane.

Anyone else that has to make this commute should add their comments and speak to their local governments, representatives and senators to let them know Hwy 16E should be a Transportation Department priority.

[Mith242]

Welcome to the forum angue. I've been a bit surprised I haven't heard more about widening Hwy 16 east of Fayetteville. I guess other streets have been given 'priority'. With so much growth going on it's unfortunate that some areas get overlooked. Maybe there's someone here that has heard any news or possibilities of widening the highway in the future.

[itk]

I definitely understand your concern, angue. I used to live in east Fay and would frequently take my commute through the 265/16E intersection. The traffic associated with other commuters, Happy Hollow elementry, and through truck traffic makes it a very busy section of town. Unforntunately, as you may be aware, NWA has many identified transportation improvement needs and nowhere near the amount of funds to make them all happen in the near future.

Fortunately, the City of Fayetteville has proposed some projects along Hwy 16E in their Transportation Improvement Program, which can be found on their website http://www.accessfayetteville.org/. I believe one of them is widening Hwy 16E from Hwy 265 to Stonebridge. If you think widening the rest of Hwy 16E should be a high priority, I would suggest, other than voicing your concern to city officials and politicians, to come by the NWARPC long-range plan public meeting. The NWARPC is the regional authority for transportation planning in NWA, and is in the process of updating their long-range transportation plan (which, among other things, determines and recommends highway improvement priorities to the State). The public has a large say in the plan, and it would be an appropriate forum for which to express your concerns. It has not been formally scheduled; however, it will most likely be held late this month or early April.

^I forgot to mention-- when the date is finalized for the NWARPC public meetings, they will be announced through the local media. Also, I will try to remember, unless someone beats me to it, to post the dates on UP.

[Mith242]

Thanks for the info itk.