While groups shared their vision in reshaping the urban corridor, an Oak Street property owner said she’s concerned about how much the projects could cost.

The city of Conway hosted an open house for the Oak Street Ahead project Feb. 21, where representatives from the Conway Planning and Development Department; Garver, an engineering firm; and RDG Planning & Design, a design firm, spoke to the public about potential future plans for Oak Street.

Martin Shuker, principal at RDG Planning & Design, spoke about the proposed improvement projects for Oak Street, which ranged from small projects, like extending the length of left-hand turn lanes at a signal light or building sidewalks, all the way to large projects, like property developments.

The groups displayed poster boards around the room to visualize information about the proposed projects, as well as statistics and information about the current state of traffic on Oak Street.

“This will just be a short introduction to the boards around the room, and some information as well about the philosophy and approach we’ve taken, and some of the findings and principles of the plan,” Shuker said. “It’s very interesting to do plans for urban corridors.” 

The proposed improvement projects for Oak Street are based on a traffic study conducted by RDG and Garver over several months, Shuker said.

Utilizing existing areas to improve the traffic flow of Oak Street, like turning parking lots into side streets, improving pedestrian walkability of the area with protected sidewalks and mixed-zone development, were some proposed plans.

Shuker said downtown Conway inspired the plans.

Shuker said, “A commercial corridor like Oak Street should think of itself as a district, as a commercial or mixed-use district rather than as rugged individual risks and businesses.

“A great example of district thinking is downtown Conway, where there’s a real esprit de corps [sense of pride] about the corridor.”

The projects would require action from both the city of Conway and private businesses to turn Oak Street into a cohesive district similar to downtown Conway, Shuker said.

Ann Allen, a Conway resident and owner of an Oak Street strip mall, said she appreciated the city’s effort to improve the corridor, but worried about what it would cost and if the city’s money might be better spent addressing other issues.

“I think it would be good to improve the traffic problem and getting around, but there’s no way I think the city could do all that,” Allen said. “I just worry about what it’s going to cost me in taxes.” 

After the presentation, Shuker, Paxton and other representatives from the city of Conway, Garver and RDG gathered feedback and answered questions from attendees at the open house.

Attendees were given packets with detailed maps of Oak Street and information about every proposed project, as well as feedback forms, which are available online at conwayarkansas.gov/planning/oak-street-ahead/.