Bi-State Profile

The Bi-State MPO Area encompasses nearly 550 square miles in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. (Work began in 2007 to expand the MPO area.  Once this has been completed, the MPO area will be approximately 860 square miles.) The current MPO area embraces over 230 square miles of eastern Sequoyah County and northeastern LeFlore County in Oklahoma and approximately 315 square miles of southwestern Crawford County and northwestern Sebastian County in Arkansas.  The Arkansas River, flowing eastward through a relatively flat and narrow valley, bisects the Area.  Although large sections of all four counties have mountainous terrain, those portions of the counties that are within the BSMPO Area have flat to rolling terrains.  The central cities of Fort Smith and Van Buren reflect this type of topography in that they both exhibit a rather flat topography adjacent to the Arkansas River and a rolling to hilly topography away from the River valley.  The lands outside of the two central cities, yet still within the BSMPO Area, however, demonstrate a different topographical cross section.  Here, the terrain becomes more mountainous with numerous mountain elevations reaching over 2,200 feet separated by narrow wooded valleys and small mountain streams.

2007 population estimates for the various geographies for the Bi-State MPO Area are:

There are 21 units of government in the Bi-State Area. Thirteen of these are in Arkansas and eight are in Oklahoma.  The Bi-State MPO also has two Indian Nations, the Cherokee Nations and the Choctaw Nations both of which serve n the Bi-State MPO Board.  There is also one Public Trust, Fort Chaffee Trust, in the MPO area and it, too serves on the MPO Board.

Additional information pertaining to Profile information and data can be found in the Bi-State 2030 Transportation and Mobility Plan, Time for New Directions, that can be found in the Downloadable Documents of our website.  This information begins on page 15 of the Plan.

For the data freaks and curious researchers, we have prepared a list of Metropolitan Statistical Areas from around the Country that have a population within 10%+/- of the Fort Smith MSA.  We hope this list is informative.

Source: Population Division, U.S. Census
Release Date: April 5, 2007

Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Release Date: March 22, 2007