Razorback Greenway and other NWA Trail Systems

[Mith242]

On 7/31/2016 at 8:33 AM, aerotive said:

A few construction  updates on the Greenway.  The north Pinnacle section is still crap, but there was a bit of ongoing construction.  Some hope.

The construction at Monroe has finally been completed.

As of yesterday no detours around the bypass construction.

Yeah, in the heat of summer I tend to stick around Fayetteville for my riding. But with the recent cool down, I headed north. Still no detours around the 412 bypass construction. No idea when the detour will take place. 

Over all things have seemed a bit slow on the trail construction in Fayetteville. I think a lot of focus has been out of sight on the future Cato Springs Trail. You can actually see a little bit of the future trail on Cato Springs Rd. 

I appreciate the focus on detail for the trailhead at Gordon Long Park in Fayetteville, but have to admit I didn't expect things to take this long. 

It does look like work has started on the boardwalk section of the Claire Creek Trail in west Fayetteville. Hoping that will be completed sometime later this year.

I was a bit confused on the Mud Creek Trail near Academy Sports in Fayetteville. I hadn't heard anything about any future trails in that area. But turns out it's just utility work. But they're having to put in a rough trail so that construction equipment can access that area.

And one more note. For those of you using the Fayetteville trail system, U of A classes start back up soon. Which will mean an increase In trail usage. Including some who won't be familiar with trail etiquette. So you may want to pay extra attention.

[aerotive]

Is Cato Springs the one that connects to the new park?  Any idea on when that connection will be made?

There's bike lanes now on Subridge.  Also the one out on Rupple has been repainted and widened.

[IronScott]

On August 18, 2016 at 4:06 PM, aerotive said:

Is Cato Springs the one that connects to the new park?  Any idea on when that connection will be made?

There's bike lanes now on Subridge.  Also the one out on Rupple has been repainted and widened.

Yes it is. I saw the planned route recently on the Fayetteville master trail plan but don't remember if a target date was mentioned. That should be a 2.5-3 mile stretch, I think. It will be a great addition. I'd love to be able to safely ride down to Kessler. I've ridden down 265/Cato Springs many times but people drive really fast through there.

[IronScott]

Found some details which I had not been able to find before. Looks like they plan to start this year.

http://www.fayetteville-ar.gov/1261/Trail-Construction-Program

http://www.fayetteville-ar.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/4185

"The Town Branch and Cato Springs Trails will provide connectivity from the Razorback Greenway to the new Regional Park in southwest Fayetteville.  Portions of the Town Branch Trail are complete, with the remaining sections west of Greathouse Park under construction in 2015 into early 2016.  Design is being finalized on The Cato Springs Trail with construction planned for late spring of 2016."

 

[Mith242]

Originally I think the Cato Springs Trail, was going to be a lot further out into the future. But the Walmart Foundation has been pushing a lot of funding to Fayetteville working on trails on the south side of town, including the Cato Springs Trail. It will hook up to the trail system just east of Greathouse Park on the Town Branch Creek Trail. The one that extends at the official southern end of the Razorback Greenway. In most places the future trail will follow along the actual creek. But it will get more complicated at I-49. It will end at the Mt Kessler area.

[aerotive]

Went up to Benton county, couple detours in place.  One near exit 78, short detour along the frontage road there.  No problems, concrete barriers line it along the street.

The one that starts at Pleasant Grove is absolutely terrible, very nearly everyone will have to use the sidewalk and there are many intersections and crossings that cause delays.  It's so bad and unusable I've been trying to come up with why it was even marked.  Didn't want the negative PR due to closing the trail?  Loss of funding would happen with a trail closure?  Plain incompetence?

Budget an extra 30 minutes or so if you have to use that "detour".

[jonc123]

On ‎10‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 0:15 PM, aerotive said:

Went up to Benton county, couple detours in place.  One near exit 78, short detour along the frontage road there.  No problems, concrete barriers line it along the street.

The one that starts at Pleasant Grove is absolutely terrible, very nearly everyone will have to use the sidewalk and there are many intersections and crossings that cause delays.  It's so bad and unusable I've been trying to come up with why it was even marked.  Didn't want the negative PR due to closing the trail?  Loss of funding would happen with a trail closure?  Plain incompetence?

Budget an extra 30 minutes or so if you have to use that "detour".

I have to agree with you. I rode the entire trail twice over the weekend. The signage is also confusing. The other area I found to be semi-dangerous was the section that runs near Einstein Bagels, W New Hope Road area. Looks like these detours will be in place for a while along with the one up at the northern end of the trail.

Speaking of that area, after heading West on W New Hope Road and connecting back up with the trail where it runs up in front of Mellow Mushroom, etc., I noticed a new bridge being built. Is this a reroute for that section?

Here is a map I made to the best of my ability that has the Razorback in red, and the BIG detour in black. The other trail that heads off East is the one that goes over towards Ozark Beer. I'm pretty sure thats the way they had the detour, someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

 

 

[IronScott]

On 10/16/2016 at 0:15 PM, aerotive said:

Went up to Benton county, couple detours in place.  One near exit 78, short detour along the frontage road there.  No problems, concrete barriers line it along the street.

The one that starts at Pleasant Grove is absolutely terrible, very nearly everyone will have to use the sidewalk and there are many intersections and crossings that cause delays.  It's so bad and unusable I've been trying to come up with why it was even marked.  Didn't want the negative PR due to closing the trail?  Loss of funding would happen with a trail closure?  Plain incompetence?

Budget an extra 30 minutes or so if you have to use that "detour".

I rode it Sunday and agree with your comments. It's terrible. Much of the sidewalk is narrow and rough. Some dangerous road crossings. I finally gave up and just got on the road.

On a separate note, I wish the closed section in Bentonville leading to Bella Vista would reopen soon. I don't have high hopes of it happening. 

[Mith242]

I haven't been that far north in a long time and didn't realize the detour was so bad. And it doesn't exactly inspire me to rush up there anytime soon either. Yes the one small detour near the future 412 bypass is pretty simple. 

In west Fayetteville the Clabber Creek Trail expansion between Rupple and Salem is almost all paved. Just a small section near Salem is left. 

[Mith242]

A few pics of the Clabber Creek Trail expansion from a while back that I've been meaning to post for a while.

[IronScott]

On 10/16/2016 at 11:15 PM, jonc123 said:

Speaking of that area, after heading West on W New Hope Road and connecting back up with the trail where it runs up in front of Mellow Mushroom, etc., I noticed a new bridge being built. Is this a reroute for that section?

 

 

Three bridges have been set in place next to Einstein Bros in the last few days. I couldn't visualize how they were going to do it but it looks great. I'll try to get a pic today. That entire area is in desperate need of rerouting.

[aerotive]

On 10/18/2016 at 2:29 AM, IronScott said:

I rode it Sunday and agree with your comments. It's terrible. Much of the sidewalk is narrow and rough. Some dangerous road crossings. I finally gave up and just got on the road.

On a separate note, I wish the closed section in Bentonville leading to Bella Vista would reopen soon. I don't have high hopes of it happening. 

I used the road on some of the slower and downhill sections, but mostly had to use sidewalks.  Too much traffic going too fast for my taste.

Saw that the Rupple extension officially opens today, has anyone seen or used it?  Any work been done north of there?  Closest I ever get is Rupple & Mt Comfort.

Thanks for the pics of the Clabber trail.  Looks like a lot has been done since I was last out there. 

[Mith242]

11 hours ago, IronScott said:

Three bridges have been set in place next to Einstein Bros in the last few days. I couldn't visualize how they were going to do it but it looks great. I'll try to get a pic today. That entire area is in desperate need of rerouting.

It's been quite a while since I've been that far north. I don't know the exact layout. But basically instead of making that odd turn off at Einstein Brothers Bagels you'll actually turn off the opposite direction. Perhaps closer to Olive Garden. Then it will connect back up to the trail near the part that goes under the I49 north onramp. 

Not sure if they are working on it yet. But eventually instead of connecting up to that sidewalk on 52nd, you'll actually head further west on the Osage Creek Trail near Cross Church. Then you'll cross a future bridge across Osage Creek northward. Going behind that retail area where the jogger was hit and killed.

[jonc123]

On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 5:18 PM, Mith242 said:

Not sure if they are working on it yet. But eventually instead of connecting up to that sidewalk on 52nd, you'll actually head further west on the Osage Creek Trail near Cross Church. Then you'll cross a future bridge across Osage Creek northward. Going behind that retail area where the jogger was hit and killed.

It looked like (to me) that bridge across Osage Creek was in place last time I was down.

[aerotive]

Checked out the Rupple extension and trail a couple days ago on my bike.  Had to turn around maybe halfway to MLK due to ongoing construction.  The path itself in nice, better than the one on Vas Asche.  It's smoother, a bit wider I think, and is striped.

There's also ongoing work on Rupple towards Wedington. 

[TRB]

Nimbyism on display today concerning Cave Springs in the paper today.

[Mith242]

Drove by the future bridge near the Einstein Brothers Bagels area. Didn't get a great look, but was a bit surprised by what I thought I saw. Looked like a Y shaped bridge. There is a curve there. Maybe they were worried people making a left hand turn to the bridge wouldn't be able to see oncoming traffic on the trail. 

[IronScott]

A few pics of the new bridges on new hope. Not the best pics but you can get an idea. 

[jonc123]

First thing, pics above are wonderful.

Rode the complete trail on 2/11 and again on 2/12.

Improvements...the detour at the very northern end is open, no more detour.

The old trail through W New Hope Rd and S 52nd St. (Mellow mushroom, Einstein Bagels, etc.) is no more. The new trail with the new bridges are all in place and the trail is routed way behind the plaza with the Mellow Mushroom in it.

The really bad long detour down by South Promenade Blvd. is still in operation. Kind of funny that they route you on the sidewalk, but in one section they have the detour on the sidewalk closed off with the orange fencing. Kind of a detour that has a detour.

It was a wonderful two days except for the wind which was blowing in the wrong direction each day. Stopped at the new brick & mortar Crepes Paulette in Bentonville. Wonderful. Also stopped at Core In Springdale which is about 10 feet off the trail! Can't get your business any closer to the trail than that. Other cities will look at this trail for inspiration in the future.

Jon

[aerotive]

Noticed recently near Greathouse park that concrete has been laid for a southward extenion.  Not sure how far it goes as finishing work still needs to be done.  They also put in a water fountain there.  Guessing this is the route for going to the regional park.

 

[IronScott]

7 hours ago, aerotive said:

Noticed recently near Greathouse park that concrete has been laid for a southward extenion.  Not sure how far it goes as finishing work still needs to be done.  They also put in a water fountain there.  Guessing this is the route for going to the regional park.

 

Thanks for the update. That's great to hear they're working on it. I haven't been by there in months. That indeed will connect to the regional park. The is a map in the master plan somewhere. That will be a well traveled trail.

[aerotive]

The connector trail to the regional park only goes a couple hundred yards, tried it out the other day.  Ends at a stream where a bridge will need to go in.

Also went on the Clabber Creek extension recently.  Don't like the raised sections, they're pretty rough on a bike though they do seem sturdy.  The rest is concrete that's the same as other trail sections.  Definitely better than what they used on Van Asche, which is what this will connect to eventually.

[aerotive]

That bridge has gone in since my last update.  Trail is open till you get to I49 where it turns to gravel.  Looks like many sections were finished quite a long time ago.

[aerotive]

The Van Asche trail spur is being worked on, going to be connected where it goes under I49.

[IronScott]

This thread and really the entire NWA board has gone quiet. I got hit by a SUV while riding a few months ago and just got outside on a bike again this weekend. The trail from the Greenway to Kessler is getting really close to being complete. The bridge across Fulbright is concreted and the tunnel under Razorback/Cato Springs is done except for concrete. The last major thing is pouring concrete under 49. The forms are in place almost, so I expect it won’t be long before it’s all tied in and finished.

The new property around Wedington/49 got approved to be purchased by the city, so there will be more MTB/hiking/running trails coming as well as a connector to Kessler and the Greenway.

Great things happening now and in the future for Fayetteville. Good to see us catching up with the trails up north.

I know there are some new things in Benton county as well but being mostly home bound with broken bones I have very little knowledge of what’s going on up there. I know there is a new trail in Bella Vista connecting to the Greenway and some new Bentonville trails on the Greenway but I don’t know exactly where everything is and the current status.

Keep you head on a swivel out there. The drivers are not looking for you.