SPRINGDALE -- There is a lot of undeveloped land around the Elm Springs interchange on Interstate 49 in Springdale, a situation that could soon change.
Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse said he thinks development around the interchange will increase within the next few years. An Arvest Bank branch is planned for the area and a Northwest Health System clinic on Elm Springs Road will move west, closer to the freeway. Sprouse has heard rumors about other businesses building in the area, but declined to say what those are.
Elm Springs Interchange
To look at the Elm Springs interchange on a map, go to https://www.google.… and type “Elm Springs Road and Interstate 49 Springdale” into the search bar in the upper left corner. Click on the “Earth” square in the lower left corner to see what the area looks like.
Commercial development around the interchange is important for Springdale, because it will create tax revenue, Sprouse said. That revenue will help pay for services for the city's growing population, he said.
The city started work in about 2011 to widen Elm Springs Road from I-49 about a half-mile west to Oak Grove Road, Sprouse said. The improvements are what led to recent development such as the Walmart Supercenter at 4870 Elm Springs Road, which opened last year, he said.
Elm Springs Road was busy with traffic around the freeway Thursday afternoon. Cars pulled on and off I-49, while others sat in the drive-thru at McDonald's or pulled into at the Kum & Go for gasoline. A billboard for Walmart displaying fuel prices is visible from the freeway. The sounds of traffic enveloped the area.
Traffic has increased in the area since the new Walmart opened, said Jimmy Young, general manager of Everett Chevrolet. The car dealership is located on North 45th Street just northeast of the interchange.
"You can tell the difference," he said. "Rush hour is impossible."
Rolf Wilkin, owner of Eureka Pizza, said traffic coming from the east, west and south gets backed up in the evenings. Eureka Pizza has a location at 3973 Elm Springs Road.
"It's quite a sight to behold," he said.
Young said the traffic has had a positive effect on Everett Chevrolet's business. More customers are coming in to look at cars, he said.
Land owners around the interchange are trying to market and sell their properties, Sprouse said.
Multiple empty lots in the area have real estate signs posted. A black and white sign on the southeast corner of Elm Springs Road and 48th Street reads that a 31-acre lot is for sale.
An item to rezone 1.12 acres on the northwest corner of Elm Springs Road and 40th Street, just east of the interstate, recently was tabled, said Patsy Christie, city director of planning and community development. The rezoning application says the owner wants to rezone the property from general commercial to thoroughfare commercial so a Whataburger can be built there, Christie said. The item will be on the Planning Commission agenda again on April 7.
A statement from Rob Rodriguez, senior vice president of restaurant operations for Whataburger, referenced its future Fayetteville location on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The statement came by email from Caitlin Gooch, senior manager of client services for Hahn Public Communications.
Rodriguez said the company is "taking a thoughtful and thorough approach building this Fayetteville location before we consider building additional restaurants in the area." The restaurant has more than 770 locations.
Officials are also looking forward to more road improvements around the interchange.
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department plans to begin widening the overpass late this year or early next year, Sprouse said. It will be widened from four lanes to six lanes. The department will install a temporary traffic light at the northbound off ramp before Aug. 1.
City officials want to eventually extend 56th Street one mile to the north to connect with Elm Springs Road, Sprouse said. Plans calls for first extending 56th street north to Har-Ber Avenue, about half-way to Elm Springs Road, but the city doesn't have enough money for the full extension to Elm Springs Road. There is not yet a timeline for the later part of the project.
As the area develops, properties immediately around the interchange will probably be commercial with residential to the west, Sprouse said.
Young and Wilkin said they also think the area will develop.
"I think it's probably on the cusp of something big," Wilkin said.
NW News on 03/30/2015