LITTLE ROCK — A River Rail extension to Little Rock's airport is moving forward as local governments look for a consultant to map out a route and determine a cost for branching out from downtown.
Three transportation consulting firms in the last week answered requests for proposals from Metroplan, central Arkansas' regional planning agency, for a feasibility study about linking streetcar tracks in Little Rock'sand North Little Rock's downtowns with Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field.
The airport's terminal is about three miles from the streetcar's easternmost stop near the Clinton Presidential Library and Heifer International.
"It's really as much of a route study as it is a feasibility study," Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines said Friday. "There was a study in the late 1980s that said going from downtown to the airport was feasible back then. Ifwe could lay out where the route is going it would give us an idea of what the cost will be."
The study would consider alternative routes, the use of new track or existing freight rail track, and costs. Results could be complete in six months, Villines said.
Metroplan advertised for proposals on behalf of the county, Little Rock and North Little Rock. Metroplan will form a committee to choose the best proposal then negotiate the consultant'sprice within about a month, said Jim McKenzie, Metroplan's executive director.
The companies are: Carter & Burgess Inc. of Fort Worth; URS Corporation of Fort Worth; and Wilbur Smith Associates of Columbia, S.C. Carter & Burgess has a branch office in Little Rock.
"The [extension's] cost will be dictated by the route chosen," McKenzie said. "We won't know the route until we get into it."
River Rail opened a $20 million first phase in November 2004 on two loops in Little Rock and North Little Rock, joined by tracks across the Main Street Bridge across the Arkansas River.
A $9 million second phase to the Clinton Library and Heifer International east of Interstate 30 opened in February, a link designed to someday extend to the airport.
"It's been in the plans ever since the idea for River Railfirst became a reality," said Betty Wineland, executive director for Central Arkansas Transit Authority, which manages River Rail. "Just where it was going to fit into the expansion, we really didn't know."
The two cities and the county were partners in building the first two phases of the $29 million River Rail and will equally share in subsidizing about $689,000 for operating expenses this year. Federal funding paid for 80 percent of the start-up and expansion. The same formula would apply for the next phase.
Because the second phase is entirely in Little Rock, North Little Rock has first rights to the next extension under terms of project financing agreed to by the two cities. However, Mayor Patrick Hays would forfeit first rights, he said, if it means building an airport extension.
"There is still some development I'd like to see materialize before I would suggest we exercise our option," Hays said. "And I think it would benefit us a great deal to have downtown connection from our city to the airport."
When the airport built a parking deck in 2001, plans incorporated ways to accommodate a River Rail link, said Philip Launius, the airport's spokesman.
The airport has never surveyed airline passengers to measure interest in a streetcar extension, but such an addition would likely draw passengers, he added.
"It would be an interestingsort of way to get to and from here," Launius said. "Obviously, local passengers would have their vehicles here. The people from out-of-town might enjoy it and might like to do it because it would be a different thing to do."
The extension could use current streetcars and continue onto the existing 3.4 miles of track, Wineland said. Streetcars can reach speeds of 40 miles an hour, but move slowly now because most track runs along busy downtown streets.
"I wouldn't think people leaving the airport would necessarily want to transfer," Wineland said. "We might want to modify the interior [of additional trolleys] to have areas for luggage, but we basically could use the same cars."
River Rail averaged 12,035 passengers monthly running three streetcars at a time through the first nine months of this year, Wineland said. Since it opened three years ago, streetcars havecarried about 445,000 riders.
However, passenger trends from CATA show numbers lag in day-to-day riders, but peak for downtown events and during conventions.
"Right now it is set up for primarily for the tourist trade," McKenzie said. "But the other thing we had hoped would happen is happening and that is we're getting a significant amount of redevelopment along the rail line.
"So from the development angle, it's done exactly what it was intended to do. And it is supporting the tourist economy, which is no small contribution to the regional economy here."
Arkansas, Pages 13, 22 on 10/27/2007