Townsend Way is open again!

I am, as we say, a happy camper! That is, I am a happy driver, a happy street traveler in Pea Ridge. Townsend Way is open again after many months of being gated off. Yesterday I drove from Carr Street east toward Subway, turned right onto the south leg of Townsend Way, crossed Slack Street, and made my way to the recycling bins near the Emergency Services building. Townsend Way is open between Subway and McDonalds, as usual, but the gate no longer blocks the street leading over to Carr Street. To me that is major, major gain for getting around our town without over-reliance on the most crowded of our streets.

I'm hearing that one of the properties there between Subway and Carr Street has been purchased for a possible future restaurant site. That to me is something to celebrate if it was the turn which was needed to get the street re-opened from Carr Street over to Subway and McDonalds. Of course I have been clamoring and pleading for that thoroughfare for some time, to provide us an alternative to the congestion and access problems which we find at Carr and Slack streets near Walmart. Trying to turn left onto Slack Street from Carr Street can turn into a 10 minute wait, especially during morning and evening rush hours.

Without the access from Carr Street to North Curtis Avenue between Subway and McDonalds, the other options for access streets become Patton Street, which is too far north; Price Street, which is really intended to be more of a residential street; and Lindsay Street, which is definitely suitable only for residential neighborhood use. Months ago, after I had used Lindsay Street several times to cross over from Carr to North Curtis, I began feeling that using that street as a thoroughfare was a danger to the residents, as well as an intrusion on their space; so I resolved not to use Lindsay Street any more as a through street.

Townsend Way is kind of weirdly shaped and named. I'm not sure just how it can fit in the city's street naming system, where the names of east-west streets are taken from Confederate soldiers and the names of north-south streets are taken from Union soldiers. Townsend Way, which is not yet an official city street, is shaped like a backward L, with the short leg running east-west between Subway and McDonalds, and the long leg reaching south to the junction with Slack Street between Community First Bank and the White Oak Station. I really wish the Townsend Way design could be changed, to make one street going east-west from Subway over to Carr Street, and a differently named street to connect with Slack Street at the south end. I acknowledge that Van Dorn Street, one of the older streets, has some of the same weird shape, beginning from McCulloch with short block running south, then a long stretch running west, and finally turning north to connect again with McCulloch. Of course, though it is not standardized, it gets the job done, and that is the main thing. I'm not so concerned with what the streets in the Leetown Crossing Development are named or how they are shaped. My main concern is that the cross street between Subway and Carr Street is open and effective as a through street.

I like the possibility of crossing from Carr to North Curtis and reaching O'Reilly's or the Sonic or Fred's without having to add to the congestion at Slack Street. I also like the opportunity to cross over from Walmart to North Curtis Avenue without having to get on the busy Arkansas Highway 72. We are already needing a traffic light or two to help with the Ark. Hwy. 72 congestion. In the meantime, the crossover street between Carr and North Curtis can provide some relief. I believe we need this artery connecting Carr and Curtis, and we now have new opportunity to get it right! As our town and our area continue to grow, we need to consider not only our large traffic thoroughfares, but also the streets that can provide some easing of their load. Just think of what Arkansas Highway 94 and 72 through our town would be like today if we didn't have Weston Street, It'll Do Road and Benton County 40!! I celebrate that the cross street through the Leetown Crossing Development is open again! Thank you, all o' y'all who made it happen!

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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.