Razorback Greenway and other NWA Trail Systems

[Mith242]

Forgot to mention earlier. Looks like they've finished around 70 to 80% of the lights between Sycamore and North St on the Scull Creek Trail. I'll have to ask Matt if the funding they got for the trail lighting is what they've been adding now or if it's new which means maybe they'll be able to go ahead and keep lighting the trail further south.

[Mith242]

Got a few more updates from our Trails Coordinator, Matt Mihalevich. They're in the process right now in ordering 36 more lights that will be installed between North and Maple. But it's going to be several months before they're received and then installed. While Township St is being widened between Gregg and College Ave there won't be any bike lanes installed. A little disappointing. Granted I wasn't likely to ever use it, but I thought the city was planning on adding bike lanes to just about all roads that were being widened. Sounds like sometime next year the city will start purring up the Share the Road signs on some streets including that section of Township. Technically bicycles are already supposed to be on the road not sidewalks. But I think the city is going to start putting more of an effort of getting the message out there and to also let vehicular traffic know it as well. One more note, Matt wasn't sure exactly when it would happen. But sometime in the near future the lanes of traffic on Front St will be shifted over to the east and will free up 8' of space for a single trail on the west side. Basically where the Mudd Creek Trail intersects Front St and goes over the Front St bridge.

[Mith242]

Everybody go out and enjoy the trail system. Looks like they're cleaning up the muddy sections under bridges today. The last time they did that was back in the Spring. Maybe they only do it two or three times a year? While the Fulbright tunnel is still wet it's nice to go through, especially on the north side without all the mud. Now if we can just do something about those annoying little black bugs that always seem to get real bad after every rain we seem to get.

[Mith242]

I've noticed it looks like a new fence is being put up on the Scull Creek Trail. Unlike the metal ones near the railroad looks like this one is going to be a wooden fence. It's going up just north of North St. I guess I've gotten used to that area but I can see it being considered a bit of an eyesore. Looks like it will run from the garage near North St northward to the hill. Doesn't look like they're going to try to hide the hill, which is nice. In parts of the year there's a lot of nice wildflowers on it.

[zman9810]

I've noticed it looks like a new fence is being put up on the Scull Creek Trail. Unlike the metal ones near the railroad looks like this one is going to be a wooden fence. It's going up just north of North St. I guess I've gotten used to that area but I can see it being considered a bit of an eyesore. Looks like it will run from the garage near North St northward to the hill. Doesn't look like they're going to try to hide the hill, which is nice. In parts of the year there's a lot of nice wildflowers on it.

Yeah, that area is kind of an eyesore- a fence is a good idea. I'm surprised that the concrete company isn't breaking some city code in letting it stay in that shape- they could have a little commuity spirit and clean it up without being told to anyway.

[Mith242]

Yeah, that area is kind of an eyesore- a fence is a good idea. I'm surprised that the concrete company isn't breaking some city code in letting it stay in that shape- they could have a little community spirit and clean it up without being told to anyway.

I wasn't even sure who owns that land. Like I said, I've gotten used to that area now. But to visitors using the trail system that area probably would be an eyesore compared to how the trail looks elsewhere. So putting up some sort of fence to block that out is a good idea. Although there's a few areas that aren't exactly the most appealing, overall I've been surprised just how scenic overall the trail system is. I've been thinking lately about the trail system. Although I'd used parts of it before. It's been about a year now when they finished a big section of the Scull Creek Trail and I started using it on a regular basis.

[FabianR]

Cool.

I wish Rogers would do something like that.

Rogers does have some trails now. theres like 6 miles of trails completed

[Mith242]

Rogers does have some trails now. there's like 6 miles of trails completed

Yeah, all the major NWA cities have jumped on board except for Springdale. But they seem to finally be looking into doing some trails in the near future. At the moment I believe Fayetteville has the most extensive trail system. But Rogers and Bentonville both have been coming along pretty well. I think Bentonville is the only NWA city to incorporate some mountain bike trails.

[Mith242]

Looks like the Scull Creek trail took a beating while I was out of town. Guess you guys must have had a lot of rain while I was away. I noticed the bridge just south of Poplar St had a lot of debris on the sides and it looked like it had been well under water. Then going northward I noticed a lot of gravel and debris around the Gregg St tunnel. Looks like the city went in and tried to build back up some areas between the trail and the creek between Gregg and Appleby. Then I got to the Fulbright Expressway tunnel and wondered why there were cones up. Went into the tunnel to quickly realize the north part of the tunnel was flooded. Looked like it might be about a foot deep. Reminded me of what typically happened to the Appleby tunnel before they worked on it. Now idea how long the Fulbright Expressway tunnel has been under water or how much longer before it dries up and the tunnel is navigable again. Didn't get too see if there's anymore damage to the north.

[thewizard16]

Looks like the Scull Creek trail took a beating while I was out of town. Guess you guys must have had a lot of rain while I was away. I noticed the bridge just south of Poplar St had a lot of debris on the sides and it looked like it had been well under water. Then going northward I noticed a lot of gravel and debris around the Gregg St tunnel. Looks like the city went in and tried to build back up some areas between the trail and the creek between Gregg and Appleby. Then I got to the Fulbright Expressway tunnel and wondered why there were cones up. Went into the tunnel to quickly realize the north part of the tunnel was flooded. Looked like it might be about a foot deep. Reminded me of what typically happened to the Appleby tunnel before they worked on it. Now idea how long the Fulbright Expressway tunnel has been under water or how much longer before it dries up and the tunnel is navigable again. Didn't get too see if there's anymore damage to the north.

A volunteer cleanup of the Scull Creek trail has been planned and hopefully will be finished this coming Wednesday. I've been gone over 4 1/2 of the last 6 weeks, but I heard the weather in Fayetteville has been pretty rainy/stormy recently. It was in Dallas too, and to a lesser extent, in Houston too.

[Mith242]

The Fulbright Expressway tunnel on the Scull Creek Trail is now passable. But people on foot be warned. There's still water around one to two inches in one area and there's mud and debris. So it might not be easily passable on foot. Overall I didn't see too much damage north of that area. You can see parts of the Mudd Creek Trail, particularly under roadways were flooded. But overall the damage seems less than what happened to the Scull Creek Trail.

[Mith242]

I don't use the trail system at night so I didn't know this. But apparently the city was shutting the lights off around 1100PM to 530AM. But the city figured out an estimated 1,300 people used the trail system during that time period last month. So the city will now be leaving the lights on during that time period. I know the city received some stimulus funds for LED lighting on the trail. Guess that will help keep the electricity bills down with the increased using of the lights. Anyway still great to see the trail system getting so much use. I had no idea that the trail system would get that much use at those hours. I wonder if they have estimates on how many people use it a day.

[Mith242]

Considering how things have gone with the weather lately, I suppose it come as too much of a surprise that the Fulbright Expressway tunnel on the Scull Creek Trail is under water again. Probably around half a foot of water on the north end of the tunnel. While I'm on with info on the trail system I'll give some updates I got from our Trails Coordinator, Matt Mihalevich. The bids for the bridges on the Lake Fayetteville Trail went well. They came in under budget. Currently they're working on the abutments and foundations with the bridges will go. In mid November the bridges should ship and be installed. They're hoping for the trail extension to be ready by the end of the year. Although all this rain certainly hasn't helped the schedule. They're hoping to begin work on the Mudd Creek Trail extension before the end of the year. Although won't be until sometime next year when that section of trail will actually be open. Not sure how long that section of trail extension will take. Looks like the section connecting the Frisco Trail together between Maple and Spring St won't happen until next year. Of course if this current weather pattern keeps up it will slow down the schedule even more. But hopefully this wet weather pattern will end eventually.

[Snaple4]

How are they going to fix the tunnel? The only cheap thing they could do is raise the floor with metal grates, but that will only work so well and they can only go so high. Other than that they would have to either modify the current tunnel or construct a new one? Anyone know if they could raise the hight of the tunnel and then put in a new floor? That would atleast let some of the water run under the new part helping the flow. I hope they can do something since I love that area but it is always so creepy, especially when the lights go out.... So wierd when that happend.

[Mith242]

How are they going to fix the tunnel? The only cheap thing they could do is raise the floor with metal grates, but that will only work so well and they can only go so high. Other than that they would have to either modify the current tunnel or construct a new one? Anyone know if they could raise the height of the tunnel and then put in a new floor? That would at least let some of the water run under the new part helping the flow. I hope they can do something since I love that area but it is always so creepy, especially when the lights go out.... So weird when that happened.

While they fixed the small tunnel under Appleby I don't know if there's a solution for the Fulbright Expressway tunnel. As you said they can only go so high. Especially because the trail slopes upward as soon as you come out of the tunnel. Now with the Appleby tunnel it was flooding all the time. While frustrating the Fulbright Expressway tunnel doesn't seem to flood anywhere as much as Appleby did. Unfortunately we've just been in a very wet period right now. Everyone who's used the Fulbright Expressway tunnel knows it never totally dries up. But lately it's been wetter than usual down there and not really had time to dry up a bit more. Honestly I haven't heard any news of the city attempting to do anything to fix the tunnel. I'll ask Matt Mihalevich sometime if the city has any future plans or if they consider this an annoyance that's going to happen sometimes. With so much of the trail system that close to creeks sometimes there's just not a lot you can do when you sometimes get a lot of rain. You just have to find ways to minimize it as possible. The good news with the Fulbright tunnel is that the last time it flooded the waters seemed to go down pretty quickly. I believe it was passable in a couple of days. Seemed like Appleby would stay flooded for a week or more.

[Mith242]

Speaking of the Fulbright Expressway tunnel, I noticed this morning it's mainly passable. The place where most of the flooding was is now mainly just wet and muddy. There are still some sections on the north side of the tunnel with water. So if you're on foot beware.

[zman9810]

The Fulbright Expressway trail path wasn't constructed with the idea of it being a trail pathway so the chances of it ever being clear all the time are slim. I think the trail coordinator would agree that the trail system conditions are very dependent on the local weather and to make them independent of it would cost more than what can be funded. The city does a good job even in these tough times of caring for the trails so hopefully the small cost improvements can be taken care of and the larger ones set for future aims.

This week should be a banner week for the trails- sunny and in the 60's

[Mith242]

The Fulbright Expressway trail path wasn't constructed with the idea of it being a trail pathway so the chances of it ever being clear all the time are slim. I think the trail coordinator would agree that the trail system conditions are very dependent on the local weather and to make them independent of it would cost more than what can be funded. The city does a good job even in these tough times of caring for the trails so hopefully the small cost improvements can be taken care of and the larger ones set for future aims.

This week should be a banner week for the trails- sunny and in the 60's

I would have to agree. As I said earlier it's an annoyance but the Fulbright tunnel doesn't seem to stay flooded for long. But the city has made efforts where it can. Even though you could go up and cross Appleby they went ahead and fixed the easy to flood tunnel. The city knows the Scull Creek Trail is the 'backbone' of the trail system and wants it as functional as possible. But when so much of the trail system is right next to creeks it's going to be hard during times of very wet weather. But overall we have to be happy about the green spaces near the creeks. Without them the trail system might have never happened. But I will try to ask the Trail Coordinator if the city has any thoughts on making changes of improvements to the Fulbright tunnel.

[Mith242]

Looks like the Oak Ridge Trail mentioned earlier this year is now going to be official. This trail will be an offshoot of the Frisco Trail near Center St. It will then head west and northwest to the U of A. It will extend over to Garland Ave. Eventually the university wants to have it running all the way over to Razorback Stadium. The cost of the half mile of the initial trail plan will be around $185,000. Fayetteville applied for a $148,000 federal grant and got around $116,000 of it. Apparently this is the largest amount they've received from this type of grant.

[Mith242]

The Fayetteville Trail system seems to be in the news a lot recently. Unfortunately not all of it good. But with more increased use I guess it also means more people will use it for bad as well. Anyway looks like there's been some problems with a flasher on the Scull Creek Trail. There's also been some problems with people trying to take their bicycles on some of the side paths in the Gordon Long Trail just off the Scull Creek trail. One area in particular is steep as it heads down to Scull Creek. It also tends to wash over parts of the sidewalk so that it's also slick with algae. The combination has caused people to have accidents. Apparently there's been a number of them this year at that spot. Probably in part to the increased using the Scull Creek Trail is getting.

[Mith242]

Finally got around to asking our Trails Coordinator, Matt Mihalevich, about the Fulbright Expressway tunnel. For the most part although the water can be a big annoyance we're pretty much stuck with it. Technically the tunnel is the property of the AHTD. One of the conditions on letting the city use the tunnel for the trail was that it couldn't be altered as in raising the level of the floor. One of the few things the city was allowed to do was create little 'gutters' on the side of the tunnel. If you look you can see the concrete was worn down a bit to try to provide a way for the water to go through. But after rains debris and mud tend to build up. The city had also considered lowering the edges of the tunnel and putting in a metal grate. But they were afraid this also would simply get blocked up with mud and debris after rains and cause an even bigger mess. The city does occasionally have someone go through with a power washer. But of course the city can't really afford to have someone do this after every rainfall. Matt did want me to mention that they welcome any volunteers that would be willing to help out on the trail system also.

[mzweig]

The fact that several women have been flashed and one was attempted to be groped by someone on the trail is not going to help its reputation. This is terrible publicity--even if these are isolated, infrequent occurences--as some women will be afraid to use it after hearing stuff like this.

Mark

[Mith242]

The fact that several women have been flashed and one was attempted to be groped by someone on the trail is not going to help its reputation. This is terrible publicity--even if these are isolated, infrequent occurrences--as some women will be afraid to use it after hearing stuff like this.

Mark

Yeah but I guess in some ways some negative aspects are to be expected as more people use the trail. It's unfortunate but just sorta the way things tend to work. Hopefully we can catch this guy.

[Mith242]

Forgot to mention yesterday, they power washed the Fulbright Expressway tunnel. I hate to complain because it's a lot better than it was. But seems like they missed the west side of the tunnel on the northern half. You can still see mud and debris on that side. But as I said before, even so, it's still a lot better than it was.

[mzweig]

Forgot to mention yesterday, they power washed the Fulbright Expressway tunnel. I hate to complain because it's a lot better than it was. But seems like they missed the west side of the tunnel on the northern half. You can still see mud and debris on that side. But as I said before, even so, it's still a lot better than it was.

Maybe they will go back and it is just being done in phases.....

M