BIO: Allen Dodson has served as Faulkner County Judge since 2022. He previously served as the county’s attorney and was appointed county judge in 2013 and held the office through 2014.  

In addition to his role as county judge, Dodson currently serves as president of the Metroplan board of directors, president of the County Judges Association of Arkansas, and secretary of the board for Central Arkansas Planning and Development

What is Metroplan, and what role does it play?

Metroplan is a federally designated metropolitan planning organization for central Arkansas. It works with local governments and state and federal agencies to provide general planning, mapping, and technical assistance to local governments.

How does regionalism benefit Conway, Faulkner County, and central Arkansas as a whole?

Look at Northwest Arkansas, for example. People love that area. When a UCA, Hendrix, or Central Baptist College student graduates, they’re going to be deciding what they want to do and where they want to live. So, we must ask ourselves why they would stay here, and we must address that. We must care about it.  

We aren’t guaranteed a certain population here. There must be enough for people to want to raise their kids here, or they can just go to Dallas, Chicago, Kansas City, or anywhere else. It is that simple.

So, everything from quality of education to places to work to the things we do when we’re not sitting behind a desk is all tied to the same immeasurable metric, and that is the quality of community and the quality of life in a community.

What Metroplan initiative will have the biggest impact on Faulkner County?

The Conway loop. That will be the biggest transportation infrastructure milestone for Faulkner County as a county and as a region for the next 50 years in terms of determining whether the coming growth is healthy or painful.  Further, transportation corridors and their rights-of-way not only control traffic congestion, but they determine adequate availability of housing (think home prices), shopping, working, and recreation—effectively every area of the community.

We are talking about something that will take quite a few years, so it will be completed in segments. We need to complete the Baker-Wills Parkway, but there’s also a huge need on the opposite side of town to connect U.S. Highways 64 and 65. That would be working with the City of Conway and the Arkansas Department of Transportation quite heavily, so it would be a multifaceted effort. That is likely the next phase.

You could really simplify the current state of the transportation network in and around Conway as being the spine of Interstate 40, and everything else hangs off that spine. Any successful, growing city and region has a network that simplifies travel, providing more direct routes, rather than forcing everyone into a few routes..

How does your involvement with Metroplan help you in your role as county judge?

It gives familiarity with the programs and helps me to position Faulkner County for projects and programs in the future.  

As the county judge, my first duty is to the people of Faulkner County, so when I’m serving as a board member or going to board meetings, I’m promoting Faulkner County. As president of the board, I have a fiduciary duty and responsibility to everyone else in the region.  

A rising tide lifts all ships, and that is true of regional planning. We need to do the best things for our region, for all parts of our region to succeed. I enjoy the broader view and the impact I can have as an officer there. Having Metroplan be as healthy as it can be is the best thing for Faulkner County and all other areas of our region.

What are your main priorities as president of Metroplan?

No. 1 is to have the organization well-run while making a significant effort to regionalize and not fall further behind regions outperforming us today. Building relationships and building engagement across the region is key to that.

You always want to improve the operations of the organization you’re overseeing in the short term, but the most important long-term goal is regionalization.

We think there are roles that are being played by planning organizations in other areas of the country that have been very successful and have helped their regions and have been worth the effort.  

Where does central Arkansas need to be, and how do we get there?

First, we must figure out who we are, and then we need to develop a plan that involves stakeholders in the region. We cannot fall further behind regions that are outperforming us today. We need to build relationships and build engagement across the region.