Wedington Plan Approved

Rezonings, Infrastructure Improvement Could Follow In West Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE — West Fayetteville residents could see new plans for street, sidewalk and trail improvement and city-initiated rezonings as a result of a Wedington Corridor Plan aldermen unanimously approved Tuesday.

The plan seeks improvement to 425 acres north and south of Wedington Drive, from the interchange with Interstate 540 to just west of Broyles Avenue.

City staff developed the plan using input from about 85 residents who participated in public meetings last fall.

Web Watch

Wedington Corridor Plan

See the online version of this story at nwaonline.com to read a full copy of the Wedington Corridor Plan.

Staff members said they wanted to look at Wedington Drive because of rapid growth west of I-540 and because the area is ripe for development.

Peter Nierengarten, sustainability and strategic planning director, said Tuesday about one-third of the land is undeveloped. Jesse Fulcher, a city planner involved with creating the plan, estimated 25 percent of Fayetteville’s population lives west of I-540, as opposed to 10 percent in 1994.

With that growth came traffic congestion.

Many residents complained about traffic on the Wedington Drive overpass. Further west, “the haphazard alignment of curb cuts and the continuous center turn lane leads to a dangerous driving condition,” according to the plan.

In 2010 the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department estimated 29,000 vehicles pass a stretch of Wedington Drive west of I-540 every day.

At A Glance

Council Action

Fayetteville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:

-Allowing Mayor Lioneld Jordan to assemble a group to look at policy changes promoting urban agriculture

-A $42,000 design contract with Crafton, Tull & Associates for Wilson Park pool improvement

-Spending $231,000 for buy seven vehicles for the Transportation, Water and Sewer and Information Technology divisions

-Appointing 12 people to six boards and commissions

Source: Staff Report

The plan council members approved is structured under four principles.

The first would change Wedington Drive to Wedington Parkway. A tree-lined median could replace Wedington’s continuous center turn lane. Planning staff have also proposed limiting curb cuts and installing stoplights at Tahoe Place and Marvin Avenue.

Nierengarten said before Tuesday’s meeting one of the most visible features of the plan — a three-lane roundabout on the west end of the Wedington overpass — is being reviewed by the Highway Department. He said a study by Burns & McDonnell, a Kansas City, Mo.-based firm working with the department, indicated a roundabout may not be feasible.

The plan’s second principle envisions the heart of the neighborhood at Wedington Drive and Rupple Road. The city could rezone land to promote a commercial hub there. City staff have supported a “central green” northwest of Rupple and Wedington for a farmers market or outdoor community space. The plan also shows a possible location for a junior high school or library branch off Rupple Road south of Wedington Drive.

It would be up to groups such as the Fayetteville Public Library, Fayetteville School District and developers to decide on many of those amenities.

“The illustrative master plan in no way sets in stone what any one individual development or project will look like in the area,” Nierengarten said.

The corridor plan’s third and fourth principles support active and public transportation and designate a natural area to connect the Hamestring and Owl Creek watersheds.

Trails are planned north and south of Wedington on Shiloh Drive. The plan could spur more pedestrian paths along the north side of Wedington and connecting Bryce Davis Park to the Boys & Girls Club of Fayetteville. A park-and-ride transit stop was identified at the southwest corner of Wedington and Shiloh Drive in the parking lot where a Jefferson Lines bus station is now.

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