Traffic congestion in Northwest Arkansas costs $103 million per year, according to a study by Texas researchers that was released this afternoon.
"Our findings show traffic congestion here is far worse than what we'd expect to see in regions of comparable size," David Schrank, a researcher with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, said in a news release. "Some of the highways and streets we studied would be among the worst in the entire state of Texas."
The study was commissioned by the Northwest Arkansas Council, a private nonprofit. One of the council's goals is improving the region's infrastructure.
The study used a figure of $20.50 per hour in time lost and excess fuel consumption to calculate the costs of congestion.
The researchers studied eight segments of road in Benton and Washington counties, including multiple sections of Interstate 540 and U.S. 71B. The worst segment studied was U.S. 412 from Arkansas 112 to Thompson Street in Springdale, according to the study.
"We wanted to see how much the congestion costs, and TTI's findings are staggering," Said Mike Malone said, president and CEO of the council.