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New traffic pattern near Markham Street, Kavanaugh Boulevard to encourage business

Along with the "street diet," the area will also see several pop-up shops through the month.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – The city of Little Rock has placed dozens of traffic cones near Markham Street and Kavanaugh Boulevard in order to slow down traffic in the area.

The cones are placed to condense Markham from four lanes to three. The road now has one lane traveling in each direction, with a shared turn lane in the middle.

James Meyer with Studio Main said drivers often go 50 mph down Markham.

"People didn't feel safe being out here. We wanted to find a way to improve it,” Meyer said.

Meyer said this road setup, called “street diet,” is temporary. It is all part of an initiative called “Pop Up in the Rock” – an effort to try and revitalize the Stifft’s Station part of town.

“We had empty storefronts. We had a lot of traffic. We had very dangerous sidewalks where cars were zooming right by it,” Meyer said.

The cones were placed along Markham on Sunday, June 10, and they will remain there until June 23.

“It’s just a traffic pattern that fits the number of cars that go through this corridor much better,” Meyer said.

New pop up shops will also be added along Markham near the Oyster Bar.

“We have a mixture of retail and food and beverage vendors. We’re going to have vintage clothing. We’re going to have a kombucha brewer,” Meyer said.

Meyer said the shops are also temporary, but they will be there to show the area’s potential.

“We’re hoping to show people that it’s viable so we’re able to get full times leases,” Meyer said.

Gabrielle Shryver just opened up her family business “Vase and Vine” in that area last week. She said she hopes this temporary set up will help the area blossom.

"I think that's the goal for a lot of the businesses over here. Just to have that community-driven atmosphere for the most part,” Shryver said.

The pop-up shops will be open this weekend. They will stay open until July 7.

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