Ward 4 hears argument for mobility authority
Posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/66694/
Residents of Fayetteville’s Ward 4 heard a presentation Monday about the Northwest Arkansas Regional Mobility Authority.
Fayetteville is one of the area cities being asked to join the authority, which will pursue funding options such as sales taxes and toll roads to fund transportation projects in Northwest Arkansas.
Washington and Benton counties, along with the cities of Bentonville, Prairie Grove, Rogers and Lowell, have signed on as members of the authority.
The Fayetteville City Council put off making a decision at its June 17 meeting about whether to join the authority to have more time to discuss the issue with members of the public.
The council is scheduled to resume the discussion of joining the authority at its meeting at 6 p. m. today at the City Administration Building, Room 219, 113 W. Mountain St.
Jeff Hawkins, director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said amendments made to state legislation in 2007 made it more feasible for local governments to establish regional mobility authorities.
An act signed by Gov. Mike Beebe last March gives local gover nments the power to fund transportation projects through voter-approved sales taxes or the creation of toll roads.
Hawkins said establishing a regional mobility authority is one tool that’s available to local governments to help fund highway needs.
“ When it comes to trying to meet the mobility needs, we’re just in a pickle, ” he said. “ We’re certainly not going to get anywhere waiting for federal and state funding to come around. ”
The regional highway needs have been identified by the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission as a Springdale northern bypass, a western beltway and a Bella Vista bypass, as well as improvements to Interstate 540.
Scott Van Laningham, vice chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Council, said both the federal and state highway departments are facing a “ perfect storm, ” as revenue is declining and the costs of highway-building are increasing.
A regional mobility authority would not be a “ silver bullet, ” Van Laningham said, but would be one way to attempt to address the issue.
If the city decides to participate in the authority, either the mayor or a person designated by the mayor would represent the city on the board.
Ward 4 Alderman Lioneld Jordan said the counties have already formed the regional mobility authority.
“ The question we face is whether the city gets a place at the table or not, ” he said.