Planners Apart On Regional Trail System
Fayetteville In Building Mode, Springdale Just Beginning
Last updated Friday, August 15, 2008 8:15 PM CDT in News
By Bob Caudle
The Morning News
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SPRINGDALE - The two largest cities in Washington County are literally miles apart building trails - meaning it may be years before residents can enjoy a regional trail system.
Fayetteville has an extensive trail system running throughout the city. The parks and recreation department lists 18 trails covering 16 paved miles.
The city has identified another 129 miles for trail construction and averages building 5 miles of trails per year.
Springdale has a walking trail around J.B. Hunt Park that connects with Lake Springdale.
"We're working on planning a trails system," said Patsy Christie, director of planning and community development for Springdale. "We have one in J.B. Hunt Park that runs down to Lake Springdale. We're looking at ways to connect that to downtown. We've looked at connecting the two high schools, but that would take a bridge over Interstate 540."
Christie said some subdivisions already have trails and some have places for bike trails.
"We're identifying those," Christie said. "Next we have to identify where we have sidewalks."
Meanwhile, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission has a master trail plan connecting Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville.
The Heritage Trail Plan proposes a regional network for proposed bicycle and pedestrian pathways within Benton and Washington counties, according to Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission officials.
The Heritage plan consists of two components and a best guess. There are two established travel ways - Butterfield Coach Trail that follows Arkansas 265 and the Civil War Trail that follows Arkansas 112 - and a best guess at the Trail of Tears.
"One big mystery is the Trail of Tears," said John McLarty, a planner with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. "There were 13 detachments that came through Northwest Arkansas. They all came at different times and they didn't use the same route."
By using the two already-defined routes the regional system is designed to link the emerging master trail plans of the region's cities.
"As cities are working on master trail plans, we were looking for a system to connect them all," McLarty said. "This is it - the Heritage Trail Plan. This is a big player in Heritage tourism. If you don't want to take a bicycle or walk, you can drive the trails all the way from Pea Ridge to Fort Smith. There are historical sites along the Butterfield Trail."
The Butterfield Coach Trail is one of the oldest roads in the area, McLarty said.
"The U.S. military built the roads to connect forts in the 1800s," McLarty said. "It ran from St. Louis to Springfield, Mo., to Fort Smith."
Interestingly, McLarty pointed out, everything to the east of the Butterfield Coach Trail is in the White River watershed and everything to the west is in the Illinois River watershed.
"It's the only way to go through Benton and Washington counties without crossing a major branch of the White River or the Illinois River," McLarty said.
By sticking to established routes, McLarty said, constructing regional trails should keep costs down.
"The premise is, when a road is being improved, add the bike or walking lane," McLarty said. "That's the most cost-effective way to do it. We're not out there going through people's yards and fields. We don't need easements and don't get involved in property rights. There's no place on the Heritage Trial that you go on private property."
McLarty said the Heritage Trail system ties into the National Trail of Tears route.
"I think the reason the Heritage Trail has caught on so well is that it's a part of living history," McLarty said. "It connects us with the past."
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