Boozman: Intermodal authority now needs plan of action

Many months ago, U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, was asked to support — help find federal funds — the effort to create an intermodal authority in the Fort Smith metro area.

It is no secret that Boozman politely but bluntly told civic and business leaders in Crawford and Sebastian counties that he would be glad to help once the region got its act together and worked regionally to form a transportation authority for the purpose of coordinating freight management efforts.

The authority — the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority (RITA) — is now in place, and held its first meeting Sept. 16.

The authority is charged with diversifying “freight management solutions” — truck, rail, water, air — in the Fort Smith region. More to the point, the authority hopes to develop infrastructure and processes that make it easier and cheaper to ship raw and finished goods in and out of the region. If successful in that mission, authority officials say the region could attract distribution centers, logistics operations and other transportation-related operations to the region.

However, the authority is not yet where it needs to be, according to Boozman and authority officials.

Rusty Myers, economic development director for the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District, said Sept. 16 that the authority is now working with Boozman’s office to determine the best approach to seek federal funding.

Boozman told The City Wire that the next step is for the authority to determine the best way to move forward “and then translate that into a set of plans.” Boozman recommended that the plans include detailed information on cost savings, regional economic development benefits and input from “stakeholders in the area.”

The next step might also include research of similar transportation authorities around the country to learn from their mistakes and successes, Boozman said.

Once the region has a good plan that will help save existing jobs and recruit new jobs, Boozman said, “then we secure the infrastructure to do that.”

But Boozman and his staff aren’t on the sidelines. He said his staff will comb existing federal transportation programs to see what funds or other assistance might be available in the planning process.

Funding from the next federal highway bill will likely have to wait at least 18 months — and that might be a good thing, according to Myers.

With a heavy legislative load of controversial legislation — health care reform, cap and trade, card check — facing Congress, leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have suggested it will be 18 months before a new federal highway bill is considered.

Myers said the delay might give the authority time to better prepare its case for funding under one of the myriad of federal highway bill programs.

Boozman sees the benefit of a delay for the authority, but says the delay also hampers planning at the state level for important road projects like Interstate 49.

Boozman repeatedly stressed in his interview with The City Wire that the valuable part of forming the authority is that people in the region have proven to themselves they can work together “to do very important things.” He said creation of the intermodal authority sets the stage for other regional successes.

“I want to congratulate all the people who worked so hard. It’s taken a lot of effort. It’s taken a lot of cooperation,” Boozman said.