Springdale Council adopts updated thoroughfare plan to guide multimodal street design

At its March 19 meeting the Springdale City Council adopted Resolution R8-2025, approving an updated thoroughfare plan that establishes context-sensitive classifications and design guidelines for the city’s streets, sidewalks and multimodal corridors.

The plan replaces guidance last updated in 1998 and is intended to align the city’s street standards with modern, multimodal design practices and regional funding requirements. City Engineer Riggs presented the plan to council, showing how the document ties Federal Highway functional classifications to local “contextual” classifications — boulevard, parkway, avenue, main street, neighborhood collector and street — and providing a menu of recommended cross sections and right-of-way zones for residential, mixed-use and industrial areas.

Riggs told council the document is meant to be a flexible guide, not an overly prescriptive standard, and that it pulls from national and state guidance including ITE, NACTO and ODOT multimodal design practices. He said the plan links previous local work — the comprehensive plan and the connectivity plan — and is intended to guide both city projects and developer-driven street work. The presentation listed implementation tools ranging from complete‑streets policy adoption and Vision Zero safety planning to funding sources such as federal grants, OPWC and SORTA.

Council members focused on trade-offs raised by the plan. Council Member Jacobs asked about sidewalk width, noting the plan lists preferred widths up to 8 feet and the constrained minimum of 5 feet (with 4 feet allowed only for short constrained segments with landing areas). "What I wanted to ask about... what's the payoff between 5 and 8?" Jacobs said, arguing narrower sidewalks can be a high ask for some neighborhoods. Council Member Vandiver pressed on maintenance and clearance, saying, "If we aren't able to keep it clear, then we really haven't done anything," and asked how the city will guarantee pedestrian routes remain usable where vegetation or mailboxes encroach.

Riggs and other staff said the plan is intended to be applied case-by-case. Wider pedestrian ways are primarily recommended where pedestrian demand or adjacent development justify them; in built neighborhoods the city would generally seek to replace sidewalks in kind while prioritizing upgrades when right-of-way or redevelopment permits. Council and staff also discussed micro-mobility devices (e-bikes/scooters), mail‑delivery and curbside logistics, and the need to coordinate any future street standards with existing zoning and land-use code.

Council adopted Resolution R8-2025 by voice vote. The council poll recorded five affirmative votes (Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Vanover, Mr. Gleaves, Mrs. Webster and Mr. Anderson).

The council and staff said the plan will be posted for public access and used as a reference for review of future development proposals and city projects. Staff and council members indicated that the adoption is intended to inform later code or procedural updates — for example, possible adjustments in the land‑use chapter to ensure zoning reviews reference the new contextual classifications — rather than to change regulations immediately.