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January 24, 2005

Gonna Ride the Train

Now here's an idea whose time has come. (Registration req'd)

A University of Arkansas at Fayetteville architect thinks that a mass transit rail system could decrease traffic congestion and promote better development in Northwest Arkansas’ largest cities.

Stephen Luoni, director of UA’s Community Design Center, is trying to get $2.28 million for a study that could back up his claim.

Luoni has proposed studying the feasibility of a 32.5-mile transit system that would use diesel trains and run from southern Fayetteville north to Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville. The transit line would run on tracks built by the Arkansas-Missouri Railroad for freight trains, Luoni said.

There would also be a spur line out to XNA from B'ville....an excellent idea. I would hazard a guess that WalMart vendors and/or executives are large percentage of the traffic in & out of XNA daily. And if we could catch a train to the airport instead of paying $30+ to park our car there for a couple of days not to mention schlepping our luggage the 1/4 mile from the parking lot to the terminal, you can bet your ass we'd ride it....even if we had to ride to B'vlle first.

And if we could catch a train to B'vlle every morning to work & school instead of battling the 50,000+ idiots on the Dale Earnhart Memorial Speedway, a/k/a I-540, why that would be just heavenly. I'll bet there's a lot of other folks who would agree.

About two-thirds of the 172,585 people the U.S. Census Bureau counted in 2000 in the Fayetteville-Springdale urbanized area lived within one mile of the railroad tracks, Luoni said. That density could support such a rail system, he said. "It would relieve highway congestion," Luoni said. "We also have minority and lower income populations that don’t have a lot of transportation options."

The fact of the matter is that if you don't have access to a vehicle here, you're pretty much screwed. Mass transit is almost non-existent, so many lower income families find themselves in the no-win situation of can't get a car b/c you don't have a job and can't get a job b/c you don't have a car.

Of course, a rail system isn't going to start anytime soon, it's at least 10 yrs. out. But if this area continues to grow over the next 10 yrs. like it has over the last 10, I shudder to think what the traffic will be like.

A redneck Chicago most likely.

Posted by Rita at January 24, 2005 09:00 AM

Comments

Posted by: BloodSpite at January 27, 2005 03:08 AM