Times Editorial : The big picture

Springdale's road program is the definition of progress

Posted: July 29, 2009 at 7:02 a.m.

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SPRINGDALE — Last summer, former Mayor Jerre Van Hoose was among the Springdale officials proud to dedicate a 5.5-mile portion of theDon Tyson Parkway. Just part of the $105 million street bond issue approved by voters in 2003, the parkway is the southern section of a threepronged effort to relieve traffic on busy U.S. 412. To the north, construction is reshaping two-lane Wagon Wheel Road into a busy boulevard that will allow Interstate 540 traffic a straight shot to U.S. 71 and beyond. Much work remains, though.

But the Don Tyson Parkway is up and running. So too (and most recently) is Huntsville Avenue - the central, east-west corridor that city officials hope will fix the city's long-standing congestion nightmares.

Happily, drivers can now take Springdale's Elm Springs exit at the bypass and, in a breeze, make it all the way to the city's opposite side. Elm Springs evolves into Huntsville Avenue, which today gives way to a wide open, spacious path that takes drivers for a tour of Springdale that has simply never existed before. Old-timers won't believe it as the new road stretches from U.S. 71 to Arkansas 265, and then farther east before hanging south all the way to U.S. 412 East.

None of this will mean anything to people from communities where sensible roads have existed for generations. Like Fayetteville, Springdale has long been home to a mishmash of streets that never made a whole lot of sense, either on the map or behind the wheel. Way back when, driving through Springdale would sometimes inspire you to think like an engineer, and imagine where brand new roads ought to run, or how wide they should be - and so on and so forth.

Of course, this sensible sectioning of the city into zones didn't come about by accident. Rather, improving the state of Springdale's roads took years of persistence, and leadership, to convince voters that an enormous bond issue (try getting one its size approved in this economy) was the right thing to do. Lots of folks deserve credit for selling, and realizing, that message.

Former Mayor Van Hoose is at the top of the list.

"We need to dream big," he once told us. "I knew we needed to improve our street grid in Northwest Arkansas. Without a strong transportation grid you cannot build an orderly city. You have all these isolated areas where in-fill could take place if you have a transportation grid that folks could get to and from that spot. So I knew we needed to invest heavily in a major transportation grid. And when we get done here, it's going to be pretty awesome."

"Was that your idea or the chamber's?"

"That was mine."

"You're going to take credit for that one?"

"Yes, I am. I felt like I knew how to make it happen. ... We've been trying to build [the Don Tyson Parkway] across the south side of town for 20 years. And it's just like a lot of things: You've just got to bow your neck and do it. Just like Huntsville Avenue. We bought every piece of property on the south side of that street. And people said, 'That's not going to happen.' Well, yes, it is going to happen - if you just decide it's going to happen."

Van Hoose once told us that he saw the street program, along with the creation of Arvest Ballpark, as best representing his legacy. Looking back, Springdale's former mayor played a key role in shepherding both projects, both dreams, into reality. Both efforts have already been extremely successful, and have helped remake Springdale into far more of a progressive community. And those contributions will be adding a special luster to the city's name for years to come.

A lot can be learned from such determination and will. Sometimes, it simply takes a committed person who can inspire others meeting up with an idea that's ripe for becoming reality. Such community-changing projects don't come to life on generalized wishes for the future. It takes a dedicated spirit, hard work and a belief that leads to action.

Jerre Van Hoose deserves Springdale's thanks and will for many years to come.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 07/29/2009

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