In 2009, the 87th Arkansas General Assembly created the Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance to find ways to fund highway, county road, city street and surface improvement projects across the state. The committee’s recommendation was to implement a half-cent sales tax increase over a 10-year period, requiring an amendment to our state’s constitution. Ultimately, in November 2012, Arkansas voters approved an amendment to fund the estimated $1.8 billion in projects proposed by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The resulting Connecting Arkansas Program would be the largest highway construction program ever undertaken by ArDOT and include rehabilitation of Interstate 30 between the 630 and 40 interchanges.
Also in 2012, studioMAIN, along with partners from Keep Little Rock Beautiful and staff from the city of Little Rock, began planning for the inaugural Envision Little Rock Design Competition. The idea for the competition was not in response to the CAP Program’s successful run on the ballot, but rather to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of John Nolan’s 1913 Report on a Park System for Little Rock. A landscape architect and city planner, Nolan presented a greenspace masterplan to the Little Rock Parkways Association on Nov. 4, 1913, which would inform the competition guidelines and goals.
The design competition’s planners selected the project area to be at the eastern terminus of Capitol Avenue, where, as identified in Nolan’s plan, a proposed Choctaw Train Depot along Rector Avenue would welcome visitors to a tree-lined Comstock (Capitol) Avenue. Though the Depot did not come to fruition, other themes from Nolan’s study including creating a visual and physical connection between eastern downtown Little Rock and creating an iconic gateway informed the competition’s objectives. Twelve competitors submitted concepts presenting a wide range of ideas, from towering spires to mixed-use developments, awards were given and the Envision Design Competition was born.
Fast-forward 10 years and the Envision Competition is back where it all started, centered on a sprawling 17 or so acres of soon-to-be urban “greenspace” left over from the 30 Crossing project’s removal of several on- and off-ramps. The space will provide extensive views east and west from the Clinton Presidential Library to the Historic Arkansas Museum and will be partly bridged by a widened I-30. Of significance for the newly recovered city blocks are restrictions on its future development to be reserved only for public use due to the properties having been originally acquired through eminent domain. Nonetheless, these restrictions on the land use may direct a more appealing solution.
Early in the CAP program’s development, specifics about project details and scopes were not fully developed. At the time, Interstate 30 was to receive needed safety and surfacing improvements, nothing too eye-popping or concerning for adjacent residents and businesses. However, the public learned during initial presentations on the scope of the project in 2014 and 2015 that 30 Crossing would potentially be a $1 billion project. Early plans called for consideration of up to 12 to 14 travel lanes, more than twice the interstate’s current capacity. Expansion of the interstate and its effects on the adjacent communities received ample criticism, and several subsequent lawsuits ultimately failed to significantly alter the project’s progress. In the summer of 2020, 30 Crossing broke ground, and the expected construction duration is anticipated to last until 2023, with subsequent phases occurring thereafter.
Once the 30 Crossing contract is complete, the streets, sidewalks and newly minted open space will become the responsibility of the city to program and maintain, all of which has the potential to become an iconic space welcoming visitors to Little Rock and serving as a gateway view for the estimated 130,000 vehicles that pass by each day. StudioMAIN, along with other stakeholders, recognized the need to consider the future programming and potential use of the nearly 10 city blocks in the heart of downtown Little Rock. Cities facing urban interstate improvement and expansion projects rarely end up gaining real estate that can be repurposed for public use. The steel columns and expanse of paving will be repurposed, by what and for whom exactly remains to be seen. The city of Little Rock has engaged in initial planning for the area but is limited by a parks and public works budget spread thin across the city.
The Envision 30 Crossing Design Competition will solicit ideas from professionals and the public for potential solutions to the impacts of the 30 Crossing project on pedestrian connectivity, greenspace programming, economic development and how a space could perform beneath the newly constructed overpass. The design competition will be a venue for visionary ideas of how to create an iconic place in the heart of the city of Little Rock.
As studioMAIN learned with previous design competitions and other community-driven efforts around Little Rock, sourcing ideas and concerns from eventual end-users generates more diverse and robust outcomes. Invest in thinking big for this area. Registration for the Envision 30-Crossing project is open until July 1. Information can be found at studio-main.org/envision.
Jordan Thomas is a studioMAIN board member.
