Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Trail nears finish Decatur
DECATUR — It has been nearly six years in the making but the much-awaited Veterans Park walking trail will soon become reality in the city.
Work began in mid-January near hole three of the frisbee golf course just west of the Pat Avenue curve at Veterans Park. The extreme winter weather that gripped the area put a temporary hold on the project.
The history of the walking trail began in 2015 when two Decatur residents approached Mayor Bob Tharp and asked if the city could build a walking trail at Veterans Park, which is just off Arkansas 102 in northwestern Decatur.
Betty Turner and Pat Austin wanted to have a place where families could exercise by walking and running where they would not have to worry about traffic.
Tharp took their request to the City Council, which at the time was working on a new youth soccer field at the park.
The council voted to pursue the walking trail and the project was handed off to Tharp, city clerk Kim Wilkins and Cassie Elliot, the city’s grant writer.
Later in 2015, Tharp was advised by a local resident about a grant program that might be perfect to receive money for the walking trail.
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, one of the state’s biggest healthcare providers, started a program called “Blue & You Foundation” in 2001.
“To achieve the goal of better health for all Arkansans, the Blue & You Foundation seeks to harness the power of partnership. By strategically focusing its grant funding on community-based solutions, the Foundation hopes to nurture community health leadership, foster collaboration and innovation, and leverage financial, human and community resources to produce a measurable, positive impact. Simply put, the mission of the Blue & You Foundation is to work together with others to create a state of better health for all Arkansans” (www. blueandyoufoundationarkansas.org).
The city applied for the grant in August 2015. A letter dated Nov. 13, 2015, was sent to Wilkins on behalf of the foundation. Unfortunately for supporters of the walking trail, the Blue & You Foundation turned down the request for funds for the project.
For the next two years — in November 2016 and November 2017 — the city applied for the grant and was denied the Blue & You grant. So the project was placed on hold until Tharp was contacted by an official with the Arkansas Department of Transportation in 2018 who found out that the walking trail was turned down by the Blue & You Foundation. This state official suggested the city apply for a Transportation Alternatives Program grant.
“The Transportation Alternative Program provides funding for programs and projects defined as ‘transportation alternatives’ for pedestrians, bicycles and other non-motorized forms of transportation. It was authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation act. It is a reimbursement-type grant program that provides for an 80 percent federal share and a 20 percent local match from eligible applicants.”
The city applied for and was awarded two of these grants in 2016 and 2017 for the Bredehoeft Road to Veterans Park sidewalk projects that provided local residents with a safe way to walk through Decatur.
On November 20, 2018, the city was informed that the Arkansas Department of Transportation awarded the walking trail a $250,000 grant through the Recreational Trails Program, a part of the TAP program.
The Veterans Park Walking Trail was one of only 16 projects in Arkansas to receive the RTP grant, which totals 1.6 million dollars.
After accepting several bids dated October 21, 2020, the city accepted a bid from Oelke Construction Company in the amount of $226, 585.
Oelke Construction began work on the walking trail in mid-January. But because of the recent winter storms, the project was placed on hold until the area dried out. Work resumed on Feb. 22 at the north end of the park between the softball field, McCollum Park and hole nine of the frisbee golf course.
When completed, sometime in May, the walking trail will begin at the northeast end of the current track near the soccer practice field and run along the perimeter of the park and end back at the southeast end of the track, about a mile in length.
One unique feature of the walking trail will be the addition of the old Decatur Branch pedestrian bridge from Arkansas 59 in Decatur. It will be located on the north end of the trail near the soccer field parking lot. The bridge will have its own path and will afford patrons of the trail a picturesque view of Veterans Park.