New book illustrates light rail possibilities.(NW Journal: A Look at News From Northwest Arkansas)

A new book explores the possibility of light rail in northwest Arkansas. The Community Design Center at the Fay Jones School of Architecture put together a 162-page book with maps, charts and graphics that illustrate what the area would look like with rail transit.

"NWA Rail: Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas" is the culmination of a three-year study by architecture students and faculty from the University of Arkansas and Washington University in St. Louis as well as experts in urban design and planning.

Jeffrey Huber, project designer with Community Design Center, said the book examines the feasibility of light rail. It's not an analysis of what light rail would cost, he said, but of what it could potentially bring to northwest Arkansas in terms of development.

Statistics show that the population of the region will reach 1 million by 2050, he said. "If we keep developing land the way we do, which is essentially four units per acre, the city limits of Fayetteville would be filled up with just the footprints of housing, not including the infrastructure."

Light rail would offer a development pattern centered on the transit system, creating higher densities and less sprawl.

Print Get the Mag Weekly Updates