What's Happening in Texarkana
Forbes.com:
City Growth
Texarkana,
Texas/Ark.Rank: 2
Projected total GMP growth, 2007-2012: 28.57%
Despite having a meager 2.84% estimated population increase by 2012, Texarkana is expected to boom in terms of economic output.
The metro area's largest employer is the Red River Army Depot, a major maintenance and storage facility for ammunition and military equipment. A Texarkana Chamber of Commerce official says the area is growing as a regional employment hub--people might not be moving in droves to Texarkana, but they're driving there to work from four nearby states.
According to Forbes, Texarkana is predicted to grow 28.57% in GMP by 2012 making Texarkana the second fastest growing small metro areas in the country. Texarkana is a regional hub for cities in southwest Arkansas, northeast Texas, northwest Louisiana, and southeast Oklahoma.
Major employers are: Albertsons, Alcoa, American Screen Graphics, Burger King, BWI, Christus St.Michaels Health Systems, Collom & Carney Clinic, Cooper Tires & Rubber, Day & Zimmermann INC, Domtar, E-Z Mart Stores, Genoa Central School District, Hibernia Bank, Home Depot, Humco Holding Group INC, International Paper, JCM, JC Penney, Ledwell & Son Enterprises, Liberty Eylau ISD, Lowe's, APEC Texas, Mayo Manufacturing, McDonald's, Pleasant Grove ISD, Red River Army Depot & Tenets, Red River Employees Federal Credit Union Regions, Sears-Roebuck, Smith Blair, Southern Refrigerated, Texarkana College, Texarkana Gazette, City of Texarkana, AR, City of Texarkana, TX, Texarkana, TX ISD, Texarkana, AR Public Schools, Truman Arnold Company, Valor Telecom, Wadley Regional Medical, Wal-Mart/Sam's Club, Applied Control Technology American Dehydrated Foods, AmeriCold Logistics, Carpco, Inc., Caraustar Industrial Consumer Products Group, Caraustar Lonestar Paper Sales, Coleman Cable, Commercial Manufacturing, Davis Roof Truss Manuf. Co.,Detroit Forms, Inc., Domtar, Inc.,DOW Chemical,Fay-J Packaging, FCM Products, Inc., First Tape and Label, Flowers Baking Co., GE Railcar Repair, International Paper Co., JCM Industries, Lear Siegler Service, Inc., M & M Milling, Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Martin Resources, N.L. Baroid Petroleum Services, Newcourt, Inc., Paper Chemicals, Inc., Parks Metal Fabricators, Precision Metal Industries, Precision Roll Grinders, Rimcor, River Valley Animal Foods, Smith-Blair, Inc., The Sterno Group, Texarkana Tank Car Manufacturer., Inc., Tri-State Iron & Metal Company, W. W. Metal Product, and Ward-Davis, Inc., according to the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.
Texarkana is a major transportation hub being centrally located in between Dallas-Ft. Worth, Little Rock-North Little Rock, Shreveport-Bossier City, Northwest Arkansas, and Houston.
Coming to Texarkana will be the new four year campus of Texas A&M at Texarkana and Southern Arkansas University Tech-Texarkana.
In the works now is future I-49 connecting from Shreveport, LA to Kansas City, MO, and a part of the Trans-Texas Corridor which will connect Texarkana to the future I-69 connecting Mexico to Canada.
Texarkana is the fastest growing city in Northeast Texas and in southern Arkansas. Texarkana, AR is one of 3 cities south of the Little Rock area growing in southern Arkansas, (the other two are Hot Springs and Magnolia).
New development
In the
last few years Texarkana has developed very quickly, and a vast array of
new stores and services have been popping up.Much land along I-30 has been cleared between the Richmond road exit and the Nash exit to allow new businesses to be built and other businesses to expand. A multitude of restaurants also have been added over the last few years, such as On the Border, Hooters, and Olive Garden .
As of October 2007 there are multiple projects in progress to expand Texarkana's capabilities to handle the ever growing amounts of traffic, and to relieve strain on the Richmond Rd. and Summerhill Rd. exits. Access roads, bridges, and viaducts are being built, all to further the growth of the Texarkana business region.
The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra was established in 2005, providing the community with several professional concerts of classical music every year.
$153 Million Frontage Road Project Approved for Texarkana
The most extensive and expensive highway reconstruction project ever in Texarkana will begin this fall.The Texas Transportation Commission gave its final approval on July 27 to a $153.5 million project aimed at addressing Texarkana's growing pains and traffic congestion along Interstate 30. This will involve converting all frontage roads along the I-30 corridor to one-way, filling in gaps in the frontage roads between Kings Highway (FM 989) in Nash and Jefferson Avenue on the Arkansas side, relocating entrance and exit ramps and adding and reconstructing overpasses along the route.
"There's no doubt traffic problems will increase while the work is being conducted, but once it is completed it should greatly improve mobility all along I-30," said Kenny Icenhower, area engineer for TxDOT in Texarkana. "Once the project is finished, motorists will be able to travel from Kings Highway all the way to State Line Avenue and back without ever having to pass through a signalized intersection. There will be no need for vehicles to stop at a signalized intersection unless they want to turn on a particular crossroad."
The I-30 corridor has long had problems with traffic congestion, especially where commercial development has blossomed near Richmond and Summerhill Roads. The primary cause of the congestion is too many vehicles trying to pass through too many signalized intersections. Currently, there are two signalized intersections on each side of the interstate-one each for the frontage roads and one each for the exit and entrance ramps.
The new one-way frontage roads will help to remedy this problem in several ways:
1.The one-way direction will take one direction off each signalized intersection.
2.The two full intersections will be removed as the exit and entrance ramps are merged into the frontage roads.
3.The frontage roads will be moved under the crossroads next to the interstate traffic lanes. Traffic will not need to exit the frontage roads and go through a signalized intersection unless they want to get onto a particular crossroad.
4.Turn-around bridges will be constructed on each side of the crossroad overpasses to allow traffic to travel to the opposite frontage road without having to pass through the crossroad intersection.
The overpasses at Richmond and Summerhill Roads will be completely reconstructed to allow room for the new frontage roads to be built underneath them. This will be done after the turn-around bridges are built on each side so traffic will still be able to use the roadways.
Additional overpasses will be constructed at University Avenue between US 59 and Kings Highway and at Pavilion Parkway, which will connect traffic between the Richmond Ranch development and the Lowes/Wal-Mart shopping areas.
The interchange of US 59 with I-30 will also be completely reconstructed to allow direct access to and from I-30 through interlacing overpasses. Turn-arounds will be constructed at the intersection of US 59 at New Boston Road (US 82) underneath the loop.
In addition to the construction work, the project also includes landscaping along the frontage roads throughout the project.
"The first order of business in beginning the project will be filling in the gaps in the frontage road system between Kings Highway and State Line Avenue," Icenhower said. "Once this is completed, we will convert the frontage roads to one-way while the rest of the work is being conducted."
"There is no doubt that traffic congestion will get even worse during the construction process, but we just ask that the public please have patience with us because the finished product is going to be so much better," he said.
Austin Bridge & Road, LP of Dallas, was awarded the contract for the construction. The Arkansas Department of Highways and Transportation has worked with TxDOT to pay for its share of the project that crosses the state line.
"I am very pleased to see this important project move forward. It will improve commerce and traffic flow in the region, and serves as a great example of what can happen when we work in partnership with neighboring states," said Senator Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler.
Work on the project should begin in September of this year and take about four years to complete, Icenhower said.
