Scholar: Rail within generation

100 told Northwest Arkansas ideal layout for train system

By Bill Bowden

Posted: July 31, 2009 at 5:35 a.m.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

FAYETTEVILLE — Stephen Luoni wants Northwest Arkansas to start planning now for the rail system it will need in 2050. By then, the four largest cities in the area will have reached a population density of four housing units per acre, which is appropriate for a light rail system, he said.

"We could be the model because we could build the system before all the population gets here," he told a crowd of about 100 Thursday at the Fayetteville Public Library.

Luoni, an architecture professor and director of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, said the population of Fayetteville and Bentonville would double by 2050 while Springdale and Rogers triple in size.

If Northwest Arkansas begins planning a light rail system now, he said, the system could be in place before the urbanization that's around the corner. Luoni said a light rail system would spur growth and resuscitate Northwest Arkansas downtowns, some of which boomed because of rail travel long ago.

Those attending received a copy of Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas: Lifestyles and Ecologies, a 2007 book outlining the possible benefits of a light rail system for the area. Luoni's students worked on the book.

The book contrasts current photographs with computer-enhanced photos to show what the area could look like if it grows as a result of light rail. "Springdale could be absolutely cool again," Luoni said. "Photos of Emma Street 50 or 60 years ago, it was a wonderful street."

The book also notes that Raleigh-Durham, N.C., spent $23 million per mile on its light rail system. Northwest Arkansas' system could be cheaper because of fewer conflicts with surface streets, fewer freight lines and lower land costs, the book states.

People tell Luoni that he'll never get Arkansans out of their cars to ride a light rail system.

"If we do get out of our cars what are the options?" he asks them.

In many cases, downtowns don't encourage motorists to become pedestrians, Luoni said. Instead, the environment should "reward them for walking," he said.

He pointed to Dallas as an example of a city where light rail worked when people said it wouldn't because of a culture of automobile driving.

The proposed light rail system for Northwest Arkansas is32 miles long. The system would pass by four of the area's five largest employers.

Luoni said it would be "simply the resuscitation of the rail that already exists" in Northwest Arkansas.

"What goes hand in hand with rail," he said, "is the resuscitation of walkable downtown environments."

"Eighty to 100 years ago, we built the rail system that's still here," Luoni said. "That's what shaped our region. That's what shaped our downtowns."

Luoni said Northwest Arkansas is particularly well suited for light rail because it would be a linear design.

"It's not going to serve some suburbs that well," he said. "That's what cars and buses will continue to do. We [the region] are horrible for cars, but we're perfect for rail."

He said two-thirds of the residents of Northwest Arkansas live within one mile of a rail line.

Luoni said several cities, such as Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, made mistakes with their rail systems because they were designed by transportation engineers with no input from urban or community planners. Northwest Arkansas can avoid that mistake, he said.

Several people in the crowd asked Luoni about funding for light rail. Most of them were concerned about being taxed for the system.

Luoni said 20 percent of the funding would probably come from the federal government. In Seattle, private funds paid for a light rail system, he said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11, 13 on 07/31/2009

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.