Proposal envisions biking across state

NLR set to weigh endorsing concept

The American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials has designated an Arkansas corridor to be developed as United States Bike Route 80, and North Little Rock officials want in on the idea.

North Little Rock’s City Council is scheduled to vote today on a resolution expressing its support for development of the bike route.

Kimberly Sanders, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the Arkansas Department of Transportation, said the proposed route goes from Memphis to Little Rock.

“We are at the point where we are getting consent from jurisdictions along that route,” she said.

The resolution says the city wants the proposed route to be designated so it can be mapped and signed to promote bicycle tourism within North Little Rock.

“It will bring in additional visitors to our city,” city spokesman Jim Billings said in an email. “Visitors: whether by planes, trains, automobiles, or bikes are welcome in North Little Rock and this will guide them in the right direction.”

If the measure is approved, the city will authorize the posting of signs identifying the route

through the community once the official designation is completed.

John Landosky, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for Little Rock, said in an email that he is aware the state Department of Transportation recently proposed the alignment of the Bicycle Route 80 corridor, but he hasn’t been contacted by the Department of Transportation regarding a proposed route.

“I know their next phase is to reach out to impacted communities to ensure that the bike route and the people using it will be welcome,” Landosky said.

According to North Little Rock’s resolution, the city, the Adventure Cycling Association and other organizations proposed the route, which includes stops in Clarendon, Stuttgart, North Little Rock and Little Rock.

Sanders said the proposed route will not require the purchase of any additional land.

“It will be all on existing roads, streets and highways,” she said.

For a route to gain a U.S. Bicycle Route designation from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the state Department of Transportation must submit an application that includes an on-ground review, an assessment of infrastructure and the approval of local communities.

Sanders said the department hopes to submit its application this fall.

In 2009, the association published a National Corridor Plan map for the Bicycle Route System. The plan identified three priority corridors, including the proposed Bike Route 80, and four alternate routes through Arkansas.

One of the state Department of Transportation’s goals set in 2017 was to develop a statewide bikeway network using a tiered system that coordinates and connects to the national numbering system.

Sanders said U.S. Bike Route 80 is the first step in creating the statewide network. The route is estimated at 175 miles, and the path was chosen specifically because it’s considered one of the safest routes for bicycle travel, she said.

“The area has the shoulder width for bicycles, and you also have to consider the availability of food and shelter along the route as well as the roads available,” Sanders said.

According to the Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit that is considered cycling’s largest membership organization in North America, the U.S. Bicycle Route System is developing a network of routes that will provide medium- and long-distance bike travel.

The U.S. bicycle industry has annual sales of $6 billion and employs roughly 100,000 people, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

According to the Department of Transportation study, other proposed routes include an on-road route for the Mississippi River Trail; a north-south route along the western border of Arkansas that would extend from Springfield, Mo., to Bentonville, through Fort Smith and Texarkana and on to Shreveport; and an eastwest route from Greenville, Miss., through Texarkana and into Dallas.

“Eventually we will like to go across the state with these routes,” Sanders said.