Wal-Mart is set for Arlington, according to the Jan. 23 Herald article, but the community isn’t ready for it. Whether it was a slowing economy or a strategy to wait out the opposition, Wal-Mart delayed construction of its Smokey Point store by five years since winning the fight to get land use permits.
Meanwhile, traffic on 172nd Street NE has continued to grow as development in Arlington brought more residents. Those of us who drive that two-lane road, also known as Highway 531, are already frustrated by the slow going during the evening commute. Wal-Mart is building on land that accesses Highway 531 at the intersection where the road reduces from four lanes to two. Wal-Mart’s promised low prices will come with the additional burden of more traffic and longer commutes on a road that isn’t capable of handling it.
The state Department of Transportation, working with the city of Arlington, published a report this month with recommendations for improving safety and relieving congestion on Highway 531. In that report, a forecast of peak hour traffic conditions for Highway 531 indicates that a trip that takes three to four minutes today will double by 2015 and increase to 14 minutes by 2035 if the highway is not improved.
According to the report, stop-and-go traffic already results in a high accident rate on the road — especially rear end collisions. The report outlines some great ideas for improving the road, but is clear that there is no funding available for the foreseeable future.
Wal-Mart uses a sophisticated public relations strategy to blunt community opposition to its growth. We received home mailings and plenty of advertising when Wal-Mart was fighting for the land use permit. What I’d like to hear from the company now is how it plans to help its new neighbors deal with the negative effects it’s bringing with it.
Gregory Casey
Arlington
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