Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
County looks to secure park funds
MIDLAND — Sebastian County is looking to expand the recreational opportunities at one of its parks with the help of outside funding.
Jay Randolph, Sebastian County park administrator and golf course superintendent, provided a plan for Bob Boyer Park in Midland to the Quorum Court at its meeting April 19. The plan, prepared by Bentonville-based Progressive Trail Design, includes designs for additional trails, as well as other features such as pavilions, elevated boardwalks, mountain bike flyovers, another parking lot, hitching posts for horses and bike posts.
County Judge David Hudson said at the meeting the county could pursue a Recreational Trails Program grant through the Arkansas Department of Transportation to help with the cost of implementing the plan. The Quorum Court is set to consider allowing the county to pursue a grant at its meeting May 17.
Hudson said Thursday the county would scope this grant based on the implementation of Phase One of the plan, which is “somewhere in excess of $350,000.”
Randolph said Thursday implementing the plan would open Bob Boyer Park to more recreation enthusiasts who already use multiple areas for mountain biking and hiking, particularly in Northwest Arkansas. It would also provide a significant economic boost for Midland and Sebastian County in terms of both the money spent by the people who would be drawn to the park and increased property value for homeowners close to the park.
The Walton Family Foundation worked with PeopleForBikes and BikeNWA to commission BBC Research & Consulting to study economic and health benefits of bicycling in Northwest Arkansas. The study, released in March 2018, found bicycling in Northwest Arkansas provides about $137 million in total economic benefits for the region annually. This includes about $51 million in benefits for businesses and about $86 million in health benefits. It also determined a typical area residence’s closeness to shared- use paved trails is associated with an increased sale price, although the study excluded homes sold in Fayetteville.
Randolph said implementing the plan could allow
Bob Boyer Park to serve as an alternative for people in Northwest Arkansas who want to experience trails more removed from urban areas such as Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville. Locations already being used for this purpose include Devil’s Den, Mount Magazine and Mount Nebo state parks.
“I was just talking to one of our trail construction folks, and they were telling me that folks up in Northwest Arkansas, even though there’s a ton of trails, miles and miles of trails, it’s all in the middle of the city, and even though it’s great riding those trails, they’re missing that ‘get out in the outdoors and ride the trails,’” Randolph said.
THE PARK
Bob Boyer Park, which is about 450 acres, has historically been used for hiking and equestrian activity, according to Randolph. It’s home to a varied landscape with elevation changes, at least six waterfalls, glades and an assortment of plants.
The park also has about 7 miles of trails, although Randolph described these as “very, very rough and rugged.” Progressive Trail Design corroborated this in its plan, which says all types of visitors currently share the same trails.
“As a result, the existing state of the trails varies greatly from being well maintained to extremely steep eroded washes,” the plan says. “The difficulty level of the trail system lacks consistency, with some trail sections starting with very relaxed grades that turn into steep climbs.”
The firm found the lack of a consistent trail experience, appropriate wayfinding and educational signs at Bob Boyer Park negatively affects a visitor’s interaction with it, according to the study.
Randolph said the trails outlined in the plan would allow visitors to more easily access the park’s areas of interest.
“Some of these areas in the park will have limited access to, or only foot traffic to, or possibly boardwalks that you can only go out a certain extent to because some of these areas, like these glades, will be very, very sensitive, and we don’t want foot traffic on those areas,” Randolph said.
THE PLAN
The Quorum Court approved releasing $24,000 to develop a trails system plan for the park as part of a larger appropriation during its meeting April 20, 2021, according to the meeting’s minutes.
Randolph said a steering committee was assembled to provide input on the plan during its development. This committee was comprised of about 12 people, who included staff from the Fort Smith-based Western Arkansas Planning and Development District, those who lived either in Midland or the area and used Bob Boyer Park regularly and local avid hikers and mountain bikers. The county received the completed plan in February.
The plan calls for creating one main access trail allowing people to navigate on foot, horse or bicycle to the westernmost area of the park from its eastern entrance. The trail would split off into smaller, more specialized trails at various points, with pedestrian-only, equestrian-optimized and bike trails with varying degrees of difficulty being planned, as well as other, secondary access trails designed to get people to them.
Randolph said the plan includes about 10 miles of trails where mountain bikes can go, about 7 to 8 miles for hiking and slightly more than 4 miles of horse access. The county is getting three quotes from three firms to implement the plan, which is intended to be done in stages starting with the main access trail, a secondary access trail and a foot trail that collectively span the eastern side of the park to the western side. The plan would be subject to change during construction.
Hudson said Thursday the county has until June 1 to submit an application for the Recreational Trails Program grant. The program provides for an 80% federal share and 20% nonfederal match for eligible projects, the latter of which can be in-kind, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation website.