Operation Bottleneck survey spots Jacksonville commuter
BY PATRIOT STAFF
Thursday, December 4, 2008 11:07 AM CST
Metroplan is reviewing, classifying, and analyzing the feedback received in September and early October during Operation Bottleneck, a public outreach effort designed to identify traffic bottlenecks as well as auto, bike, and pedestrian safety issues throughout central Arkansas.
The construction under way near Jacksonville along U.S. 67/167 is likely to alleviate some problems and the planned North Belt bypass at Sherwood also would offer some relief.
Metroplan and its member governments are preparing a final summary report to be released in early 2009, but a preliminary breakdown shows specific concentrations of congestion and safety issues by area and type of concern.
“In our final summary report, we will announce all of the concerns that have been identified through Operation Bottleneck as well as details about possible solutions, but we wanted to provide an update of our progress so far,” said Jim McKenzie, Metroplan executive director.
“Some of the improvements are minor and can probably be funded from existing revenue sources. Others are more complex and costly.”
More than 2,800 participants provided more than 3,000 concerns and suggestions during the four-week effort. Most of the participants provided feedback via a web-based questionnaire, but more than 250 people voiced their concerns in person at town hall meetings, by phone, or by mailing in a printed survey.
Of the nearly 1,900 congestion issues identified, more than half were located in Pulaski County (1,034). Faulkner County (407) and Saline County (188) were the only other areas with more than 100 identified issues.
Among communities, Little Rock led the way with 579 congestion issues identified with Conway (351), Maumelle (167), Benton (118) and North Little Rock (101) — all topping the century mark.
Pulaski (564), Faulkner (234), and Saline (124) counties also led the way among the most safety issues identified.
Of all the types of congestion concerns expressed, corridors (656) received the most attention with interchanges (489), intersections (458), and traffic signals (170) dominating the discussion.
Other concerns included area or citywide issues, new links, signage, sidewalks and transit also were identified in the survey.
“Identifying, classifying, and mapping the identified issues is only the beginning of our analysis,” McKenzie says. “Now we’re starting to look at each issue, consider the possible options, and determine the appropriate solution.”
Metroplan, which acts as a voice of regionalism for the central Arkansas metropolitan area, will also utilize the data from Operation Bottleneck in its long-term planning including the Metro 2035 Plan.
Serving more than 20 local municipalities and four counties, Metroplan has worked as the council of local governments since 1955 and is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the region.
For more information about Metroplan, visit: www.metroplan.org
Information for this article was contributed by Metroplan and Mark Rushing of ThomaThoma.
