It’s the main artery giving life force to Benton’s economic flow. And it needs some care.
Business and community leaders have recognized that and, over the next quarter century, will implement improvements to Military Road.
“It’s the lifeblood of how dollars flow into the city,” Community Development Director Lamont Cornwell said.
Revitalizing Military Road is “not something we can do overnight,” Cornwell said, and “it has to be a partnership between businesses in town and the city.”
He said it likely will take a 25-year plan. “The first thing we have to do is come up with a plan, something that is very flexible.”
The focus must be on traffic flow, access to businesses along Military and working to make the road “aesthetically pleasing to the eye,” Cornwell said.
Revamping Military will go hand in hand with the proposed Fairplex events center and the already-revitalized downtown. “It will be a horseshoe effect,” he said.
City representative attended a workshop two weeks ago at the Arkansas Transportation Planning Conference, where brainstorming began on giving Military Road a facelift. The group then gathered at Benton Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss the plan in greater detail.
Businesses along Military are open to the plan.
Rick Young of Young’s Jewelers said revamping Military “is long overdue.”
“It would be nice for the city to do something,” he said. Young has had his business on Military for 21 years.
“There are too many empty spots and we need to solve that problem,” he said. “Anything that is done can definitely help businesses on Military and keep people shopping in Benton.”
Young said he would like to see the road “spruced up and cleaned up.” The road could look prettier, he said, noting he would be open to the possibility of participating in a merchant’s association to help move the plan along.
Cornwell also has a business off Military, the local Sears store.
“I have a dual interest here,” he said.
The next step is to talk to businesses on Military and develop a plan that is doable and affordable, he said. It can’t just fall on the city, he said, “because taxpayers would pay for it,” adding federal stimulus money might help the project as well as possible available grants.
“We have to communicate,” he said. “Usually it’s the last thing people think of but the first thing they need.”
Benton has a lot going for it, Cornwell noted. “We made the first step in developing the good school system. We have the economy, the people, the parks system is growing. We have churches and the education base. Now Military is the picture of economic development.”
Making businesses more accessible is key to economic growth, he said. “It’s all about making it more convenient for the shopper, and then more people will come in and fill out these storefronts that are empty.”
In addition, if Military Road is more attractive, he said, businesses looking to move here will be more apt to do so. “Potential new business look for things to eliminate coming to a location. So we want to position ourselves so we’re not eliminated.”
Metroplan, the regional transportation planning agency, has been working with the city for some years on Military Road.
“It’s a very important corridor in Benton,” Executive Director Jim McKenzie said. “It’s key to Benton’s economy and tax base, but it is an aging corridor and if the city wants it to stay in a leading role, it needs redesign.”
McKenzie said Metroplan is “very encouraged” with the design and enthusiasm expressed from business and community leaders.
“We are excited to help Benton and the community to improve Military,” McKenzie said.
He noted the business community is talking about forming a business association to bring people together to help come up with a conceptual design for what the corridor could be. The next step is developing a master plan and the “business community is very critical,” McKenzie said.
Mark Fikes, own KFC and Rib Crib, said something has to be done with Benton “to keep it moving forward.”
Fikes attended the workshop and said he is “really encouraged, not just by the opportunity, but by the dialogue beginning to take place within the city and the possibility of a property association being formed along Military.”
The circumstances necessitate being able to revamp Military, which brings in about 75 percent of Benton’s revenue, Fikes said.
He noted there are immediate things that can be done “without breaking the bank.” They include placing utilities underground, implementing a sign ordinance, connecting properties so drivers don’t have to get back on Military to get to another business and planting trees.
“The county will grow with or without Benton, but we really have the opportunity to start with Military,” Fikes said.
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