Razorback Greenway and other NWA Trail Systems

[Mith242]

One of the aspects of the trails systems that can't be expanded on enough is the ability to walk or ride a bicycle to avoid paying $4+ a gallon for gas. The more this system is expanded the more it will help the city be a great place to live.

Certainly agree with you there. A little off topic but I noticed they had striped Gregg recently and I'm assuming they'll soon have all four lanes open and the street will be finished. The reason I bring this up is because the street is finished I don't think the state will let them work on the Scull Creek trail running underneath it. Granted there's still work to be done further south. The last timetable I saw is that they hope to have the Scull Creek Trail finished sometime this fall. Then if they could just get the section between Maple and Dickson finished and we'll have a big north-south connection for the city out of the way.

[OnDickson]

Thanks for the pic. I drove by Sycamore today and the bridge is pretty much right next to the vehicular bridge. There was traffic behind me so I didn't slow down and get as good of a look as I wanted. I don't think there's room to go underneath the bridge there so I'm guessing the trail will have to cross traffic. I don't think Sycamore gets a huge amount of traffic, but it is a 4 lane road. So far the city has been good about only having the trails cross over on two lane roads.

Yeah, the trail will have to cross traffic at Sycamore. What's worse is that it is also going to have to cross another 4-lane thoroughfare in North Street. Due to budget constraints and terrain, a bridige over North wasn't feasible and budget and utility locations also prevented tunneling under the road. The North Street crossing is worriesome with the amount of traffic that road carries. As part of the reconfiguring of the North/Gregg intersection, the trail crossing will be designed with a 8 foot pedestrian island in the middle of North street. There will also be motion detection warning lights as well as the flashing lights at street level (like the crosswalks on Garland on the UA campus). I guess this is the only alternative right now, but I hope the city can find the means to construct the trail under or over North Street in the future. This trail is going to carry a LOT of pedestrian and bike traffic once complete and I worry the North St interesection is going to be a real safety hazard.

[Mith242]

Yeah, the trail will have to cross traffic at Sycamore. What's worse is that it is also going to have to cross another 4-lane thoroughfare in North Street. Due to budget constraints and terrain, a bridge over North wasn't feasible and budget and utility locations also prevented tunneling under the road. The North Street crossing is worriesome with the amount of traffic that road carries. As part of the reconfiguring of the North/Gregg intersection, the trail crossing will be designed with a 8 foot pedestrian island in the middle of North street. There will also be motion detection warning lights as well as the flashing lights at street level (like the crosswalks on Garland on the UA campus). I guess this is the only alternative right now, but I hope the city can find the means to construct the trail under or over North Street in the future. This trail is going to carry a LOT of pedestrian and bike traffic once complete and I worry the North St interesection is going to be a real safety hazard.

Thanks for the update. Yeah Sycamore isn't so bad but North is a different matter. Quite a bit of traffic and I could see some problems trying to cross traffic there. I'm like you, I hope that in the future they can change it.

[Mith242]

With the budget crunch going on, it now looks like it will take longer to get lighting installed for the Scull Creek Trail. The trail should be ready to go this fall but all the lights might not be installed till early next year. Sounds like one of the last sections that will get lights will be the section between Poplar and North.

[Mith242]

This actually has more to do with trails systems outside of Fayetteville, but it seemed to fit well into this topic anyway. There had been ideas of trying to link together trail systems of multiple NWA cities. But it seems that the idea has already hit a snag. Springdale residents really seem to be balking of the idea of trails going anywhere near where they live. As usual Springdale seems to be behind the times. Hopefully things will change at some point in the near future. But for now it doesn't look like Fayetteville will be able to connect it's extensive trail system to those in Benton County.

[Mith242]

Sounds like the last three bridges for the Scull Creek Trail will be put in today.

[Mith242]

I decided to check out the Scull Creek Trail today to see how things were coming along. Unfortunately still quite a bit of work to do. Still quite a few sections of trails that aren't connected together yet. I can see now how the trail will go near the Fulbright Expressway. The trail will use the shoulder of Futrall just south of Fulbright to cross the creek then it will go underneath. I took the first pic from the small trail on the other side of Scull Creek on Washington Regional's small section of trail. The second pic shows the newer section of the Scull Creek Trail near Gordon Long Park. Now the park is about 7-8 feet below Gregg, now that they raised it in the recent expansion. The pole in the second pic is actually the stoplight for Drake St.

[Mith242]

I noticed something going up over Sycamore St recently. I'm guessing they won't be stoplights but maybe something like flashing orange lights for the trail when it crossed Sycamore St. I'm wondering if it will be like some of the crossings I've seen that are motion activated. Although the one I've seen like that is just a small light to the side of the street. This looks to be actually overhead. I hadn't realized they were planning something like this. Although I think they might have been able to get by without having one on Sycamore St, it will still probably be good to have. I think the street really needing it will be North. I'm still wondering how that's going to work out at that location. I admit if I was using the trail I'd be hesitant to try to cross North St unless it was early morning or something when there wasn't much traffic. Then looking at it from the other perspective, if a lot of people end up using the trail it could end up causing problems for vehicular traffic. I really hope the city will take another look at that crossing an consider some other options at some point in the future. Although I guess the bad thing is that an alternative is going to cost money they might be hesitant to spend. If going under the street isn't an option maybe they can look into some sort of pedestrian bridge over North St.

[Mith242]

Checked out some of the newer sections of the Scull Creek Trail. It's pretty much paved all the way down to North St now. Yeah there's pretty much no way it's going to go under North St. There's really not much room. Looks like you'd have to be on your hands and knees to clear that. I kept following it south on the currently graveled section. Got to a bridge that was blocked off. I looked through some brush near there and saw that Pizza Hut over on Leverett so that's about as far south as you can go. On the other side of the bridge looks like the trail basically goes right next to the railroad tracks. I was disappointed that I still can't see any sign of them working on connecting the trail underneath Gregg near Gordon Long Park. It would be really nice if they'd go ahead and connect it so that you had a nice long stretch all connected and finished. I noticed compared to the other trails I've been on there's no benches. But I'm guessing they'll eventually add some in one the trail is closer to completion.

[Mith242]

Looks like the concrete on the new bridges has 'cured' and they finally have everything open although as I mentioned before it's basically not paved south of North St. There is gravel down but if you're on a bike there's a bit of a step up to the bridges and it's pretty muddy where it goes underneath the railroad. A few things I noticed, there is a section paved south of North St. From the current end point on Maple north to Frisco Ave near the railroad tracks it's paved. What's weird is that a section of the trail is actually also used as a driveway for three homes. Sorta a weird thing. After you're past those three homes you get one of those poles in the middle of trail keeping motor vehicles off it. Not to nitpick but it also seems a bit odd that it looks like some effort was made to have the trail go under the railroad track. Where as you have to actually cross North St. Something else I noticed the section that's actually paved near Maple is labeled as the Frisco Trail not the Scull Creek Trail. Not that it makes any difference but I'm wondering where technically the Frisco Trail will end and become the Scull Creek Trail.

Something I forgot to mention earlier. Going south on the trail, if you simply stuck to the railroad tracks when you were around Frisco Ave you could follow them down to the Walton Arts Center parking lot and then connect up to the Frisco Trail there and be able to go all the way down to 6th. If they would only connect it under Gregg St and then finish the section north of Washington Regional you could go all the way up to the Mudd Creek Trail not too far south of the new Malco Theater.

[butttrumpet]

An earlier post I read said that North St would have a 8 foot median in the middle there at the trail crossing. I haven't seen any signs of that yet, but I hope its true.

I love the trail system. Thanks Kyle Cook and Dan Coody and your people!

[Mith242]

An earlier post I read said that North St would have a 8 foot median in the middle there at the trail crossing. I haven't seen any signs of that yet, but I hope its true.

I love the trail system. Thanks Kyle Cook and Dan Coody and your people!

Hmmm...guess I missed that. That would make it easier to cross. Probably the most realistic way to do it. It would cost too much to dig a tunnel underneath. Even a pedestrian bridge above would probably cost quite a bit more than this alternative.

[Mith242]

Took a walk this morning and got to see the damage from Ike. Two trees have fallen over onto the trail. A small one north of Poplar and a pretty big one a bit north of North St. The bridge just south of Poplar St apparently was under water last night. Quite a bit of debris on it and stuck onto the sides of the bridge. Some of the gravel underlying the asphalt has also washed away near that bridge. In fact there's a section of asphalt that's subsided an inch or two because the gravel underneath was washed away. In a number of places you can see just how high the water was last night. Must have been quite a storm last night!

[zman9810]

Finally went over and walked the Scull Creek trail with it's new sections. Very nice- the bridges helped create a long stretch that many people were taking advantage on a beautiful fall day. A couple of surprises at the south end- a hillside covered with red and purple flowers that felt like a reward for getting that far and a less nice surprise of a junky industrial area that the city needs to require to be cleaned up.

I did see the flood damage- the water had been really high in spots. All in all the trail was great although it has some areas that could use cleaning up and maybe some shrubs or trees to screen it. It really gives you an idea of how much multifamily housing Fayetteville has in that area, even some new buildings that look almost finished but not livable yet.

[Mith242]

Finally went over and walked the Scull Creek trail with it's new sections. Very nice- the bridges helped create a long stretch that many people were taking advantage on a beautiful fall day. A couple of surprises at the south end- a hillside covered with red and purple flowers that felt like a reward for getting that far and a less nice surprise of a junky industrial area that the city needs to require to be cleaned up.

I did see the flood damage- the water had been really high in spots. All in all the trail was great although it has some areas that could use cleaning up and maybe some shrubs or trees to screen it. It really gives you an idea of how much multifamily housing Fayetteville has in that area, even some new buildings that look almost finished but not livable yet.

Yeah the hillside of flowers really surprised me as well, especially considering how the rest of that area looked. Talk about an area that really could use some redevelopment. I hadn't realized that area was quite that bad till I used the trail. Yeah there is some new construction along the trail north of Sycamore. Probably wasn't any work being done because it was a Sunday. I still haven't seen any work being done along that stretch of trail. I guess they've been spending all their time on the section north of the Fulbright Expressway where it connects up to the Mudd Creek Trail. They've been saying the trail would be complete mid October. But unless things pick up just seems like there's quite a bit left to do in a few weeks time.

[Mith242]

Looks like all the gravel south of North St has been graded recently. There's also a roller out near the trail by North St. So hopefully it won't be too much longer before that section is paved. Sometime I need to head a little further north and see what's been done recently on the northern section of the trail.

[butttrumpet]

Looks like all the gravel south of North St has been graded recently. There's also a roller out near the trail by North St. So hopefully it won't be too much longer before that section is paved. Sometime I need to head a little further north and see what's been done recently on the northern section of the trail.

On Friday, the crew was pouring the concrete for the section that crosses the creek before looping under the expressway, near Washington Regional. I'd say its possible this will all be done within a couple of weeks. It seems like with the other portions of the trail that the prep work took forever, but once the paving started, it was all done in no time.

[Mith242]

On Friday, the crew was pouring the concrete for the section that crosses the creek before looping under the expressway, near Washington Regional. I'd say its possible this will all be done within a couple of weeks. It seems like with the other portions of the trail that the prep work took forever, but once the paving started, it was all done in no time.

Great to hear. I had planned on checking that area out later today. I wish they wouldn't have saved connecting the trail underneath Gregg till last. Gregg is heavily traveled enough that I really haven't felt like trying to cross it just to continue the trail on the other side.

[Galls]

Great to hear. I had planned on checking that area out later today. I wish they wouldn't have saved connecting the trail underneath Gregg till last. Gregg is heavily traveled enough that I really haven't felt like trying to cross it just to continue the trail on the other side.

I cross it all the time while trailing my kid, the lights on the street are timed well enough to where crossing is very safe and practical with lengthy gaps where no traffic is present. Only at rush hours are there no gaps and then I just ride vehicular style, take the lane and piss off a couple of good ol' boys in pick up trucks.

[Mith242]

I cross it all the time while trailing my kid, the lights on the street are timed well enough to where crossing is very safe and practical with lengthy gaps where no traffic is present. Only at rush hours are there no gaps and then I just ride vehicular style, take the lane and piss off a couple of good ol' boys in pick up trucks.

Good to know, although hopefully soon we won't have to worry about it anyway. I drove along some sections of the northern part of the trail. Progress has been made but I don't think much has been paved yet from what I could tell. Looks like there is a part of it paved where it connects to the Mudd Creek Trail. But it's still gravel as it passes underneath Van Asche. But there is gravel down, it wasn't too long ago it was just dirt.

[zman9810]

Skull Creek is officially opening tomorrow even though they are not exactly done, Sycamore and North still have crossing work to be done.

But today I cheated and used the trail and a bike trailer, kid included, to go grocery shopping at walmart.

Total transit time was roughly the same as it would be to drive and it gave me a workout excuse to buy and eat doughnuts.

So, I guess the section under Gregg has been completed? Having to cross widened Gregg at grade was a major drawback for me. With Skull Creek completed I can actually walk/bike by trail from my NE Fayetteville home all the way to downtown now- amazing and a great accomplishment for the city.

[Galls]

So, I guess the section under Gregg has been completed? Having to cross widened Gregg at grade was a major drawback for me. With Skull Creek completed I can actually walk/bike by trail from my NE Fayetteville home all the way to downtown now- amazing and a great accomplishment for the city.

Gregg was being completed as I went over, should be done tomorrow. And the 72 tunnel was usable but they where still doing finishing touches. The traffic on the trail has really increased and today since tomorrow is the big show off they where really trimming it up.

One Thing Though

They really need to improve drainage in the underpasses. Appleby always seems to have water and debris in it as there is nothing keeping the creek out of it. I also heard the 72 tunnel has flooding problems also, as much as 12 inches.

[Mith242]

Skull Creek is officially opening tomorrow even though they are not exactly done, Sycamore and North still have crossing work to be done.

But today I cheated and used the trail and a bike trailer, kid included, to go grocery shopping at walmart.

Total transit time was roughly the same as it would be to drive and it gave me a workout excuse to buy and eat doughnuts.

Thought I'd post this here since we have a topic for this particular topic.

[zman9810]

Here's a neat feature of the Frisco Trail that I found while walking it. It's sculpture dedicated to the the Hoover family, which if I remember right were a well liked local family that died in a traffic accident in Central America not long ago. I had heard about it on the news but didn't realize where it was or how colorful it is. It is located just south of Center Street on the trail. It's a nice addition to Fayetteville's trail system.

[Mith242]

Here's a neat feature of the Frisco Trail that I found while walking it. It's sculpture dedicated to the the Hoover family, which if I remember right were a well liked local family that died in a traffic accident in Central America not long ago. I had heard about it on the news but didn't realize where it was or how colorful it is. It is located just south of Center Street on the trail. It's a nice addition to Fayetteville's trail system.

Thanks for the update. I apparently haven't been on that section of the trail for a while. I don't think I would have overlooked it. I'm still curious when the city will have all the finishing touches done for the Scull Creek Trail.