FORT SMITH -- Safety issues along Garrison Avenue, particularly near the bridge, pedestrian crossings and vehicles running red lights concerned the public the most during meetings about how to improve truck traffic downtown.
Local trucking industry representatives, meanwhile, worried designated truck routes would cause a significant financial burden.
Engineering firm Halff Associates held three stakeholder meetings to hear feedback about what the public wants to see downtown before it makes recommendations to the Arkansas Department of Transportation about how to improve truck traffic on U.S. 64.
The highway enters Fort Smith from Oklahoma across the Garrison Avenue bridge over the Arkansas River and then follows Garrison before turning northwest into Midland Boulevard and then to Van Buren.
Halff Associates displayed future traffic projections at various points across the city during the meetings. It also focused on downtown and where those semitrailers travel after entering the city.
In a 2020 presentation to city directors, Halff said the objective of the study was to provide safe foot and vehicle travel downtown; to provide a balanced solution supporting local business freight needs while preserving the vibrancy and character of downtown; and to align with federal and state goals for multimodal transportation.
Officials with the Transportation Department also held a residents meeting in March.
Christian Lentz, principal planner with Halff Associates, said Wednesday some of the findings from that meeting were people most noticed truck traffic when they're walking or shopping downtown, not necessarily when they're driving. They reported they most notice truck traffic while driving when there's congestion on downtown streets.
Lentz said truck traffic downtown has been a topic for many years. He explained the study is the first to look for a long-term solution, including potentially constructing a new bypass, which could include a new bridge in Oklahoma.
"We do want to get some opinions from you on what you see as the potential benefits of a bypass, but also the potential problems that could occur if a bypass was actually built for Fort Smith to divert some or the vast majority of the truck traffic," he told attendees.
Lentz gave the example that while a bypass would remove truck traffic, it could also decrease the number of cars traveling downtown, which could impact businesses there.
Phil White, a member of the Central Business Improvement District, said he's not opposed to a long-term solution, but stressed the city needs a short-term solution in the meantime. He said he's spoken with property owners in the area willing to sell their land to create alternate routes that could be constructed within the next five years.
"The truckers would rather have something that makes it easier for them, I know it," White said. "I've driven trucks before, and I would hate to turn all those corners down there. It's difficult."
White also noted the recent construction connecting Interstate 49 near Chaffee Crossing may alleviate some truck traffic in that area.
"The reality is this, the streets in the downtown area, other than Garrison Avenue from the bridge to Immaculate Conception, are falling apart," Dolores Chitwood said. "They are literally falling apart. When you drive down those streets, your car is like in a demolition derby. It presents a terrible first impression to people who are coming to the farmers market, going to some of the restaurants over here in the older part of town. It is ridiculous."
Michael Mings, mobility coordinator for the city, used the Fort Smith Farmers Market operating on Garrison Avenue as an example. He said the Future Fort Smith plan includes wanting to provide shaded cover for the market, but since the long-term solution could impact the market's location, the city is waiting even though it may negatively impacting vendors' sales.
Mings added he thinks the truck route is one of the main problems facing downtown.
"Right now it feels like what was designed to be the heart of our city isn't comfortable. It doesn't feel safe. It doesn't feel walkable, because you've got these massive 18-wheelers right beside you as you're trying to walk," he said. "So I think any downtown area should be the place where you want to bring guests coming into your community and show them a place where you can walk around, see the local flavor and really begin to experience the city. And I think alleviating the problem with the trucks helps downtown to once again be the heart of Fort Smith."
Lentz said the study is supposed to wrap up by the summer of 2023, with the intent being engineers would create and run models of the alternative routing scenarios with and without a bypass, receive more public input and then give final recommendations.
Christian Lentz, a principal planner with Halff Associates, discusses possible improvements to Highway 64 on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at a stakeholder meeting inside the Blue Lion in downtown Fort Smith. Visit nwaonline.com/220724Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Dolores Chitwood (left) of Fort Smith discusses possible improvements to Highway 64 on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at a stakeholder meeting inside the Blue Lion in downtown Fort Smith. Visit nwaonline.com/220724Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)