Council reviews city trail numbers

Director: Costs offset by grants

SPRINGDALE — City Council members were faced with sticker shock Wednesday night when reviewing the proposed 2020 budget for the Public Works Department.

Department director Brad Baldwin explained the costs were offset by millions of dollars of grants for trails.

Baldwin submitted a budget for the general construction division of Public Works with an increase of nearly $4 million. The 2019 budget was $3.1 million —2020 is estimated at $7 million.

Baldwin told council members the city expects to receive $2.6 million in grants for trail construction in 2020. The city also designates $1 million each year for trails.

Baldwin expects to finish this year with $2.5 million in the trail fund, which will be rolled over to 2020.

Baldwin budgeted $5.6 million for trail construction in 2020. This will pay for engineering, appraisal and land acquisition and construction for Spring Creek Trail and Dean’s Trail Phases 2 and 3. Construction for Phase 3 will be completed in 2021, he said.

Spring Creek Trail will benefit from $250,000 in federal money through the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission and $380,000 from the Walton Family Foundation. In addition, the project received $380,000 from the foundation this year.

Two grants from the Arkansas Department of Transportation will total $1 million for Dean’s Trail

Phase 2. The Walton Family Foundation will add another $1 million to Dean’s Trail in 2020. The Transportation Department will award the city another $500,000 for Phase 3 and the Waltons another $1 million in 2021. The Walton foundation also gave $1 million to Dean’s Trail in 2019.

Baldwin broke the trail numbers out for council members because line items for the trails are spread throughout the Public Works budget, he said. These included $160,000 for engineering, $1.5 million for land acquisition and more, Baldwin said.

“Everything is constantly moving, with money coming in and money going out,” Baldwin said.

Spring Creek Trail runs from Park Street to Lake

Springdale. The city will expand the trail to the Game and Fish Commission’s nature center on 4oth Street.

Dean’s Trail runs north and south through the eastern side of Springdale. It will link to trails near Lake Fayetteville.

Both trails link to the Razorback Greenway.