I-540 in Northwest Arkansas (Lowell, Ozark: sales, 2014, contractor)

[jim9251]

Originally Posted by northbound74

There doesn't seem to have been much planning going on during that region's growth spurts. This is just one example. 540 should have been 3 lanes each direction years ago. With foresight, 4 in places....all the way to the state line.

And where would AHTD come up with the money? In 1990 NO ONE ever imagined northwest Arkansas would boom like it did. NWA has always had to fight Little Rock for every penny.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by jim9251

And where would AHTD come up with the money? In 1990 NO ONE ever imagined northwest Arkansas would boom like it did. NWA has always had to fight Little Rock for every penny.

More importantly, why would you have built a 6-to 8-lane highway to connect Fayetteville to Bentonville? It would be unlikely that many U of A students would be trekking to Bentonville on a regular basis, so essentially in 1995 we're talking about a link between two communities, one having a population of around 40,000 and the other having a population of around 15,000. The 6-to 8-lane highway would have doubled the costs of construction, delayed completion of the project, and objectively speaking, served no purpose.

[Alphareign]

Originally Posted by Luvvarkansas

Where exactly on 71 was Boston Mountain? I've driven through there and I've seen Mountainburg and Winslow, but no "Boston Mountain". Is it north of those, or have they changed the name, or did it just disappear?

Hwy. 71 is beautiful.

The Boston Mountains are a mountain range south of Fayetteville, Arkansas. They look like this:

[bjrush]

Originally Posted by northbound74

There doesn't seem to have been much planning going on during that region's growth spurts. This is just one example. 540 should have been 3 lanes each direction years ago. With foresight, 4 in places....all the way to the state line.

Care to peek into your crystal ball for the lotto numbers while you are at it?

Who knew the #1 company in the world would be located in Arkansas 50 years ago? Anyone with a functioning brain would've said it'd have to be in New York City

Except you apparently. You have the "foresight"...

[northbound74]

Northwest Arkansas has been home to one of the biggest, most ambitious companies in the world for decades. Tyson is no slouch either. I-540 opened the region up to the rest of civilization to the south. It's been growing at a good clip for what, 20 years now? At least.
Didn't take a crystal ball to have been able see the need for infrastructure improvements back then.
I realize any populated place will deal with traffic problems. As I travel around the country, however, it's easy to see who has ambition, foresight, and anticipation, and who doesn't...and who doesn't waste time tackling issues.
I understand the mentality of not wanting things to change or grow among some people in Arkansas, but the Northwest is what it is, and it has to adapt.

[linicx]

A lot of the road stuff, especially city has much to do with state and federal funding and matching monies from the cities. Small communities, do not get the rapid funding other states and cities do. Here is a comparison.

NYC has 8M. Chicago 2.5M, and Fayetteville, 73,6xx. NYC has Wall Sreet and 50 Fortune 500 companies. Chicago has 30 Fortune 500, CBOT and NASDAQ. Arkansas has four Fortune 500 companies; two are in NWA.

I lived in the MO/OK/AR area for many years. I spent of happy, quality time in NWA. If you want federal money you learn to write a proper Grant. You spend a lot of time in Little Rock in the governors office and in the offices of your representatives, and you make your voice heard from AR to the halls in Congress.

NWA as a whole must lobby, lobby, lobby until some one listens. There are 6,000 lobbyists in DC. These groups lurk in the the halls and in the offices of legislators every day. Above all else you must have a compelling reason backed with facts and figures. NWA needs THIS! . Here are the facts as to why, and the estimated cost. It will put X number of people to work for Y months and create Z number of permanent positions.

If you want roads you do time studies, traffic counts, talk to city engineers and learn what it will take to widen the road. Then you talk to contractors who lay roads. They can tell you how much time, manpower, machines and products to do it for an estimated costs which is always in overrun. You get bids and then you go to Little Rock and DC and lobby. You will hear "NO" for months before you hear, "Yes". Hitch up your pants, and put on your waders, it will be a long hard road to hoe before you plant a seed.

[nmnita]

We all have to think like DC is thinking: 1-no one ever realized how big WalMart would get and yes, add to it Tysons: NWA has grown faster than anyone could have imaged. Add to that, how many of you have lived in other area, especially major metros? All have faced similar situations, grown overpowering the road systems. We saw it in Los Angeles, the bay area, Wash DC and Dallas. The only 2 places we have lived without a similar problem was NM and Northern tip of CA (Eureka) neither of these areas have had a huge growth spert nor are they likely to have on.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by northbound74

Northwest Arkansas has been home to one of the biggest, most ambitious companies in the world for decades. Tyson is no slouch either. I-540 opened the region up to the rest of civilization to the south. It's been growing at a good clip for what, 20 years now? At least.
Didn't take a crystal ball to have been able see the need for infrastructure improvements back then.
I realize any populated place will deal with traffic problems. As I travel around the country, however, it's easy to see who has ambition, foresight, and anticipation, and who doesn't...and who doesn't waste time tackling issues.
I understand the mentality of not wanting things to change or grow among some people in Arkansas, but the Northwest is what it is, and it has to adapt.

Frankly, you're talking BS.

The region has added so much infrastructure and roads it's mind-boggling. There was NOTHING along I540 when it was built except for farmland. And any city-planner will tell you that NO ONE anticipates an area quadrupling in size in 25-30 years. With the budget constrictions that the region has had, they've tried to address issues with foresight. The fact that they aren't perfect at it is simply because we are all humans, and no one, NO ONE, anticipates this kind of growth.

[Texrzrbak2]

Been in 47 states. The roads in Arkansas are a continual issue and are always being repaved.

[Rock Climber]

Originally Posted by Texrzrbak2

Been in 47 states. The roads in Arkansas are a continual issue and are always being repaved.

Yes, there is road construction here. There's also non-stop road construction in your (and my) native Texas. I spent a year living in Dallas while they were revamping the high 5 interchange area. Talk about a never-ending headache and one that took four years of daily standstill traffic to get through.

I don't think Arkansas suits you. That's fine, it doesn't offend me. But I would suggest to you that your energies would be spent better in finding a productive way to get back to Houston rather than posting anonymously on a message board about all of your (mostly imaginary, it seems) problems with life in Northwest Arkansas.