Wedington Corridor Plan events timeline
City officials will hold a kickoff meeting for the Wedington Corridor Plan at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25 at the Fayetteville Boys & Girls Club.
The plan will focus on the more than 350-acre area along Wedington Drive from I-540 to North 54th Avenue.
City planners are asking residents to participate in a weeklong series of master planning events to share their concerns and ideas that will help shape future land use, access, and transportation decisions in the Wedington area.
Peter Nierengarten, the city’s sustainability and strategic planning director, said the area was chosen because it’s seen significant sustained development both over the last 15 years and through the last three or four years during the economic recession.
Wedington Corridor Plan project boundary
“There’s significant potential for future development in the Wedington corridor,” said Nierengarten on Thursday. “So we’re hoping we can get strong public participation in this plan.”
During the kickoff meeting, neighborhood stakeholders, elected officials and planning staff will gather for a brief presentation about the project and to look at the events scheduled for the upcoming charrette week.
Events include a hands-on design workshop, design studios, a drop-in open house and a work-in progress presentation.
Following the events, city staff will develop the outcomes into a vision document for adoption by the Fayetteville City Council sometime in January 2013.
For more information, call 575-8268 or visit the Wedington Corridor Plan page on the city’s website.
Scheduled events at the Fayetteville Boys & Girls Club
Kick-off meeting – Thursday, Oct. 25 at 5:30 p.m.
This event includes a brief presentation about the project and a look at the events scheduled for the upcoming week.
Hands-on Design Workshop – Saturday, Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to noon
During this event, citizens are encouraged participate and contribute their concerns and ideas about the future development of this area.
Design Studios – Saturday and Sunday Oct. 27-28 from 1 to 5 p.m., and Monday-Wednesday Oct. 29-31 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
During these studios, city staff will be working to develop public input into a plan for the area, and the public is welcome to stop in and check on the progress.
Open House – Monday, Oct. 29 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Similar to the design studio, the public is welcome to stop in and check on the progress of the plan.
Work-in-Progress Presentation – Thursday, Nov. 1 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The results of the previous week will be presented during this event.
This is great news and a great opportunity to get public input for such an important issue in Ward 4! The Wedington Drive Corridor study is one of my primary issues in addressing appropriate planning and finding better ways of connecting East and West Fayetteville. Please feel free to visit my website for more information on other issues I am focused on. I would love to meet with any potential voters before or during this session to discuss issues of interest in more detail.
Take care,
J.P. Peters
I’d say west Fayetteville to less-west or, maybe western central Fayetteville. I think there’s a distinct issue with connecting the actual east part of Fayetteville that shouldn’t be conflated here.
For the love of all that is holy, no more high density subdivisions and/or apartments; particularly ones that don’t include upgrades to the road infrastructure.
And now that Wedington has been expanded to 4 lanes (and occasional turn lane) can we finally do something about the 540 overpass which was the true traffic bottle neck all along? All the widening did was get people to the overpass a little faster where they sit and wait forever due to unsynchronized signals and laughably poor interchange designs.
I agree, that overpass needs help, it is terrible.
I agree.. that overpass is terrible and needs to be fixed.
I also think we don’t need any more strip malls or retail areas towards 54th street. There is plenty of space near the Wal Mart Market and closer to Rupple. I know there is a big lot between Broyles and 46th that is vacant and had rezoning signs on it at one point (assuming they want to rezone for commerical space). I think someone should put a park there. There are a bunch of homes nearby and there is no park space in that section of Fayetteville.
I don’t understand how everything got built this way if we already had a planning department. It is when things are in dire straits that the planning department steps forth and ask the residents, ” what should we do?”
There have been at least two plans to put apartments at the corner of 46th and Wedington; IIRC the first was for over 400 units and the second was for 300+. Neither included any improvements to 46th street where they planned to dump all the traffic to.
There is a small park north of that area nestled amongst the duplexes off of Cheyenne Drive.
@Michael
Agree with you completely on all points.
I agree with the points made above and that the overpass needs improvements. Most importantly, I believe the overpass is a safety issue for everyone – pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. The congestion that happens on this overpass makes it very difficult for traffic in both directions trying to get on and off the interstate. In the last month, I have had discussions with city and state officials in an effort to correct the safety and congestion problems. Coordination on issues like this one is sometimes tricky, since you have so many entities involved – city, state and Federal. However, this is a very important issue! This is a safety issue! As a community, we should continue to lobby our officials until the issues are addressed. I look forward to helping lead this charge.
J.P. Peters
Road impact fees would have been a big help in all traffic problems resulting from growth on Wedington, the proposed apartment complex on Cleveland, and the difficulty of navigating south of the NWA Mall. That issue was referred to the voters in 2007, and was defeated in a tie vote. Developers funded the campaign to defeat it, and the mayor at that time opposed it. It wouldn’t be fair to say that he personally caused its defeat, but it would have passed if he hadn’t voted against it. It might be time to consider road impact fees so growth would pay for the infrastructure needs it creates.
Although I don’t live in Ward 4 I recognize as a citizen of Fayetteville that this area needs vast improvements and community support. It sounds like J.P. has the right ideas and is already working on plans to make these improvements.
I do believe this area could be highlighted as the gateway into Fayetteville. It would be nice to see a design or some improvements that represent the area as well.
This is a plan that will help move Fayetteville forward and help West Fayetteville become more integrated into Fayetteville’s future! This plan is one of the key issues that I care about. By planning for cohesive growth with ideas from community members we can help West Fayetteville become more connected, safe and ready for businesses to invest where we live. Please join us for these planning sessions so that we can hear your ideas and concerns. I have lived in west Fayetteville for many years and look forward to the area I call home becoming better suited for cohesive growth and connectivity.
Alan Long
Candidate for Fayetteville City Council-Ward 4
Fayetteville Animal Services Advisory Board Chairman
Member of the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods
Friends of the Fayetteville Animal Shelter, Founder
http://www.LongWard4.com
longward4@gmail.com
Fellow citizens and Commentators,
What we need to know is why isn’t the planning commission looking further out Wedington.
We have a fiasco in the making with the two quarry’s(and two red dirt pits) out there turning in to a totally
industrialized area. Please note that the Rogers Group has purchased a lot of extra
acreage around the quarry they bought in the Lindsey bankruptcy. How much of the
current traffic trying to get east to 540 is heavy trucks(dump trucks)?
Please think/plan ahead further than the 350 acre area!!!
You are right that it is a problem, Dave. Didn’t the City try to regulate that area outside the city limits and get slapped with a lawsuit by the dirt farm owners? I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that the city lost and had to pay attorneys’ fee of something like $20,000 for trying to address that problem. Others with more knowledge can correct me if my memory is faulty on this.