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Razorback Greenway and other NWA Trail Systems

Mith242

By Mith242
in Northwest Arkansas

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Thia Whistle-Stop

Thia

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I'm sure Fayetteville leaders considered concrete. One thing the comparison doesn't have that I read in the Bentonville Trail Master Plan is that most hikers and riders prefer asphalt over concrete for it's resiliency. Asphalt absorbs more impact from walking or jogging than concrete and over time asphalt actually adjusts to stress by becoming misshapen whereas concrete just cracks and becomes annoying if not dangerous to joggers. So Fayetteville may have gone with what people preferred over a more expensive but less desirable surface.

The parts of Mud Creek trail that are most likely to get flooded -under the bridges, low spots- are concrete. I'm sure the city carefully weighed the options before building. The master trail plan that was created displays that they did their homework on trail systems and construction.

Scull Creek trail will take a while to complete. There are several issues: the tough job of negotiating all the easements from different property owners, the sewer project (in some places the trails parallel the sewer lines- no sense in creating the trail now just to tear it up when the sewer is updated) and the Gregg Street redo. The north end of the Scull creek trail will go under the Fulbright Freeway in a 10

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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The parts of Mud Creek trail that are most likely to get flooded -under the bridges, low spots- are concrete. I'm sure the city carefully weighed the options before building. The master trail plan that was created displays that they did their homework on trail systems and construction.

Scull Creek trail will take a while to complete. There are several issues: the tough job of negotiating all the easements from different property owners, the sewer project (in some places the trails parallel the sewer lines- no sense in creating the trail now just to tear it up when the sewer is updated) and the Gregg Street redo. The north end of the Scull creek trail will go under the Fulbright Freeway in a 10

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Thia Whistle-Stop

Thia

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Cool, more inside info. :D I'm hoping you can answer some questions for me. First of all I've heard two different things on the Scull Creek Trail. One place mentioned simply that it would be well under way around this time next year. But another source acted like it would be completed by around this time next year. Which is it? I certainly wouldn't mind it being completed in a year but that seems a bit short considering what all is going to be involved. I also heard a possibility of a putting some sort of pedestrian bridge next to or underneath the overpass by the Fulbright Rxpressway. Just curious if that is still an option or if it's certain now that it will be a tunnel underneath. Also any ideas what they'll do for North St on the Scull Creek Trail?

To "complete", from Frisco to Mudd Creek, likely will take longer than a year... sewer, road contruction, easements all will create time and space obstacles. But as reasonable sections can be created, and make sense for enhancing connectivity, the city will piece the trail together as it can.

My understanding is pedestrians will have their choice of using the exisiting sidewalk that is on the east side of Gregg and goes under the bridge. OR they can take the lighted tunnel. I'm under the impression the tunnel exists but has not been upgraded to be part of the trail yet. I'll see what I can find out.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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To "complete", from Frisco to Mudd Creek, likely will take longer than a year... sewer, road contruction, easements all will create time and space obstacles. But as reasonable sections can be created, and make sense for enhancing connectivity, the city will piece the trail together as it can.

My understanding is pedestrians will have their choice of using the exisiting sidewalk that is on the east side of Gregg and goes under the bridge. OR they can take the lighted tunnel. I'm under the impression the tunnel exists but has not been upgraded to be part of the trail yet. I'll see what I can find out.

Interesting. I wonder after all of the Scull Creek Trail is done what the next step will be.

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cocothief Hamlet

cocothief

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Yeah, it's also just nice to have another person that will also be interested in talking about it. I realize this isn't the most exciting topic for some. But I really seem to get into it. :D

I don't understand why this topic is in the coffehouse section.

Trails are urban development.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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By the way the Frisco Trail, build on the old Frisco rail bed, is currently the only lighted trail in Fayetteville. The expense was easily justified because of it's proximity to downtown, the volume of traffic, the anticipated use both day and night, and of course for safety. In the trail master plan this trail was called the Prairie-Center trail after its start and end points.

I've got another question for you Thia. What do you think will be the next lighted trail built? Do you think the Scull Creek Trail would warrant it? It seems to me that it has potential for a lot of use. Seems like it would be a good option for lighting. Maybe at least for parts of it if lighting the entire thing isn't feasible.

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itk Hamlet

itk

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To "complete", from Frisco to Mudd Creek, likely will take longer than a year... sewer, road contruction, easements all will create time and space obstacles. But as reasonable sections can be created, and make sense for enhancing connectivity, the city will piece the trail together as it can.

My understanding is pedestrians will have their choice of using the exisiting sidewalk that is on the east side of Gregg and goes under the bridge. OR they can take the lighted tunnel. I'm under the impression the tunnel exists but has not been upgraded to be part of the trail yet. I'll see what I can find out.

It does exist. On Google Earth, you can kind of see the culvert extend from near the hospital across Fulbright to the housing area on the north side (I suppose that's Scull Creek).

I can't wait to see Scull Creek Trail finished. I'm curious how that will connect to the culvert (I never heard of a trail using a culvert before). They must construct a pseudo-sidewalk/trial inside the culvert itself; otherwise, everyone would be wading through the water. But that in itself would reduce the capacity of the culvert, but I'm sure the Corps of Engineers has already approved this (I'm assuming). And when it rains, the trail thought there might be impassible.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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It does exist. On Google Earth, you can kind of see the culvert extend from near the hospital across Fulbright to the housing area on the north side (I suppose that's Scull Creek).

I can't wait to see Scull Creek Trail finished. I'm curious how that will connect to the culvert (I never heard of a trail using a culvert before). They must construct a pseudo-sidewalk/trial inside the culvert itself; otherwise, everyone would be wading through the water. But that in itself would reduce the capacity of the culvert, but I'm sure the Corps of Engineers has already approved this (I'm assuming). And when it rains, the trail thought there might be impassible.

There are already some places along the trails that go under water during heavy rains. Many of the trails follow streams. I know the section of the Mudd Creek Trail sometimes has problems because you cross under College Ave right next to the creek because that's the only way underneath the road. I suppose it's an inconvenience but I imagine it's much cheaper than to build a bridge over the roads. Especially when that money could be used later to help get another trail going.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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It would probably be better if I zoomed in more but I wanted to try to make it more easy for everyone to try to see where this is. You can see Washington Regional in the lower right. Scull Creek is basically where the line of trees are.

scullcreekculvertwz9.jpg

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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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It does exist. On Google Earth, you can kind of see the culvert extend from near the hospital across Fulbright to the housing area on the north side (I suppose that's Scull Creek).

I can't wait to see Scull Creek Trail finished. I'm curious how that will connect to the culvert (I never heard of a trail using a culvert before). They must construct a pseudo-sidewalk/trial inside the culvert itself; otherwise, everyone would be wading through the water. But that in itself would reduce the capacity of the culvert, but I'm sure the Corps of Engineers has already approved this (I'm assuming). And when it rains, the trail thought there might be impassible.

The tunnel on the North Bentonville Trail has grates down the middle for runoff. I've never used it after a heavy rain, which we were lacking the last time I used it. I'm sure there would be some kind of drainage underneath the Scull Creek Trail tunnel for runoff.

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itk Hamlet

itk

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The tunnel on the North Bentonville Trail has grates down the middle for runoff. I've never used it after a heavy rain, which we were lacking the last time I used it. I'm sure there would be some kind of drainage underneath the Scull Creek Trail tunnel for runoff.

Ah, grating would make sense. Duh.

But no, there would be no drainage underneath the "tunnel" (it's actually a concrete box culvert), as the culvert follows the stream profile. The stream would have to flow downhill under the culvert, then back uphill, which is obviously impossible.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Ah, grating would make sense. Duh.

But no, there would be no drainage underneath the "tunnel" (it's actually a concrete box culvert), as the culvert follows the stream profile. The stream would have to flow downhill under the culvert, then back uphill, which is obviously impossible.

Anyone know how big this culvert is? I guess I just keep questioning if it's big enough to handle a trail going through it.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Thought I'd make a couple of maps of some of the Fayetteville Trails using Google Earth. Sometimes the trails are a bit long and you can't always make out a huge amount of detail. The first one is the Frisco Trail. I've thumbtacked the Fayetteville Public Library and the Walton Arts Center. On the lefthand side you can see the Fayetteville High School football field.

friscotrail5fm0.jpg

The second is the Mudd Creek Trail. I've thumbtacked the NWA Mall. I guess maybe I should have thumbtacked a few other developments.

muddcreektrail2fd7.jpg

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