About Frontier MPO

The Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization (FMPO) serves as the regional transportation planning organization for the Fort Smith urbanized area funded by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) through the Arkansas and Oklahoma Departments of Transportation. The Frontier planning is defined as the area projected to become urbanized within the next 20 years in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

Established in 1973 by Federal legislation through the 1973 Highway Act, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) serves as a liaison between local governments and state and federal agencies in matters involving major regional needed transportation improvements. All urban areas in the U.S. with a population over 50K are required by federal regulations stemming from the 1973 Highway Act to have an MPO structure in place to administer transportation planning programs.

The States and the Federal governments recognize the MPO as the official forum for regional transportation planning undertaken in the cooperative, continuing, and comprehensive manner in order to maximize the benefits and expenditure of federal and state monies in transportation planning and programming.

The FMPO is governed by the Technical Committee and Policy Board.  The Technical Committee is comprised of local city planners, street department heads, and elected officials of each of the communities served.  The Policy Board is comprised of local elected and city officials.