$3.1M in grants to help 2 cities update trail sections

Some older sections of the Razorback Greenway in Northwest Arkansas will be improved and brought into compliance with industry design standards thanks to two Walton Family Foundation grants.

Bentonville received $2.1 million, and Rogers received just more than $1 million.

The greenway opened as a 37-mile trail in 2015, but sections of trails in Bentonville and Rogers that had already been built were incorporated into the larger project, said Erin Rushing, executive director of NWA Trailblazers, a nonprofit organization that develops cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

Some of the older sections don’t meet regulations set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Some regulations weren’t created yet and others weren’t adhered to when the older trails were built, Rushing said. Examples include objects being too close to a trail, slopes off the trail being too steep, and the turn radius being too tight at points.

“We want to make it one continuous project where it’s more uniform and safe,” Rushing said.

Bentonville improvements will focus on safety projects, access, public amenities and design issues, David Wright, the city’s parks and recreation director, wrote in a memo to the City Council. Council members accepted the grant Dec. 12.

The most noticeable item on the list of more than 20 projects that Wright and Rushing developed will be a new parking lot northeast of Bella Vista Lake, Wright said. Portable toilets will be removed, and a restroom will be built.

The lot will be smaller but more efficient than the one there now, Wright said. A greenspace barrier will be put in place that guides the trail from the east side of the lake through the parking lot to where the trail runs on top of the dam. A connection to the trail is being built north of the parking lot that connects to Blowing Spring Trail.

“I think those will make a big improvement out at Bella Vista Lake for the trail users,” Wright said. “It’s one of, if not, the most popular trails.”

Another parking lot will be built at Northeast Cub Circle

and Tiger Boulevard. Other projects include painting the tunnels on Wishing Springs Trail bright white for better visibility, replacing a wooden bridge on Town Branch trail with a concrete structure and straightening out a few sharp turns.

Wright said he expects all the projects to be finished in about 18 months.

The Rogers City Council accepted its grant from the foundation in November.

The NWA Trailblazers, which handled consultation work for the greenway, proposed the improvements for it, said John McCurdy, Rogers community development director.

“They did the legwork on costs and projects,” McCurdy told Rogers council members Nov. 28. “Almost all fix issues with the greenway in Rogers, such as sharp 90-degree turns … to make it safer.”

Trail ownership and maintenance are closely correlated, but it’s common for the maintenance of government-owned trails to be supplemented by nonprofit organizations and with volunteer labor hours, according to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, an organization focused on creating more

walkable, bikeable communities.

Many nonprofit trail groups pay for maintenance through membership dues, donations, fundraising events and foundation grants, according to a report by the Conservancy.

The Walton Family Foundation is also working with Bentonville to restore a section of Town Branch Creek to protect the greenway from structural damage caused by flooding.

Commercial and residential development over the years has increased storm-water runoff.

Rock and gravel debris piled up, creating gravel bars that dammed the creek, causing it to create a second channel within 5 feet of the North

Bentonville Trail, Wright said.

“It’s jeopardizing the structural integrity of the trail,” Wright said. “It’s undercutting it in places.”

The city initially planned to leave the creek alone, elevate the trail and set aside $115,000 for that this year, but the foundation asked city officials to consider returning the creek to its original channel.

The city estimated that solution would cost $286,250, and the foundation agreed to pay for the difference with a grant, according to city documents.

The council agreed to hire the Watershed Resource Conservation Center to do the work for an amount not to exceed $286,250.