Bentonville commission OKs bike, pedestrian path

BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville Planning Commission has approved the city’s bike and pedestrian plan.

David Wright, parks and recreation director, said one goal is to create a loop trail system that would encompass 3o to 35 miles in the city.

The plan started coming together in early 2019. City officials also were starting to work on the street plan, and Wright said it was important the plans work in tandem.

“We did not want to create a document that would conflict with the master street plan,” Wright said. “We pushed pause to make sure these two documents were singing from the same set of music. These two plans work really well together.”

The street plan was approved by the City Council in January.

There were community forums and an online survey that more than 550 people took, plus events where people could discuss the bike and pedestrian plan.

Connecting Bentonville identifies strategies to increase safety and connectivity for people who bicycle and walk in Bentonville, according to plan documents.

The plan is designed to increase access to key community destinations as well as encourage bicycling and walking for numerous types of trips.

Connecting Bentonville will serve as a resource and guiding document for implementation of local bicycle and pedestrian projects to advance the plan’s vision.

The Bentonville bike and pedestrian master plan can be viewed online at http://bentonvillear.com/DocumentCenter/View/6978/2021—-ConnectBentonville—-Bike-and-PedMaster-Plan—-Low-Res?bidId