Jump to content

Razorback Greenway and other NWA Trail Systems


Mith242

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 826
  • Created
  • Last Reply

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/253560/

Not official, Springdale is considering a trail program. They even gave us a nice little map. Does Lowell, Little Flock and, Greenland have trail systems? I know there is something in Johnson but is that a trail system as well?

I read about this earlier today. I admit I was surprised and it's interesting timing since we were just talking about this recently. Although we'll have to see if the city actually gets on board with the idea now. Sounds like some aldermen in the past haven't been keen on the idea. I had heard there had been some concerns in the past as well from nearby homeowners. Not sure if that's been addressed or not. Either way it's nice to see Springdale actually attempting something. I don't know that I'd ever want to try to ride a bike all the way to Rogers or anything. But it would be nice if I had the option.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read about this earlier today. I admit I was surprised and it's interesting timing since we were just talking about this recently. Although we'll have to see if the city actually gets on board with the idea now. Sounds like some aldermen in the past haven't been keen on the idea. I had heard there had been some concerns in the past as well from nearby homeowners. Not sure if that's been addressed or not. Either way it's nice to see Springdale actually attempting something. I don't know that I'd ever want to try to ride a bike all the way to Rogers or anything. But it would be nice if I had the option.

Maybe an electric assisted bike. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do agree that having a regionally connected biking/walking trail is a bit much when you think about traversing the cities. It is nice to know that it is being connected and that we will have the trails that connect point "a" and point "b". I guess for me the best thing is the thought, "Hey, we now have a regionally connected road system and trail system. Why can we not have a true regional bus system? Or even better yet, a regional light rail system?" That is the type of thought I hope comes to peoples minds when they think about having a mode of transport that is regionally connected.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe an electric assisted bike. :)

I'd still be curious though how much I could do. I walked/jogged the whole Mudd Creek, Scull Creek, Frisco Trail and the gap between the later two trails all one day. I still haven't gotten around to getting a bicycle just yet. But I figured if I could walk all of that I could at least bicycle up to Springdale maybe more. Would be a nice option rather than simply having to the Fayetteville trails multiple times to get the same distance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not a huge hazard or anything but just thought I'd let people know several lights in the tunnel under the Fulbright Expressway are out on the Scull Creek Trail. Some of them are grouped together so it does make it darker.

:offtopic:

Now I also have an off topic question. I was curious if there were any particular bicycles anyone might recommend. Sometime later this Spring I'd like to buy a bicycle. I haven't had one since I was a kid so I can't say I know a lot. I had originally planned on getting something on the cheaper side. But after I started looking around a little I realized bicycles are a bit more expensive than I had thought. Now I'm thinking that if I'm going to spend more money than I had originally planned maybe I'll go ahead and get something a little nicer. I stopped by Highroller Cyclery the last weekend. Looks like they mainly carry Specialized/Globe bicycles. I hadn't been really considering that brand but that store in particular was very friendly and helpful. So I've been thinking I might take my business to them anyway. But anyway just wanted to see if anyone had anything to say or any suggestions. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am fond of Schwinn Bikes . I had one, purchased it off e-bay. It was unused but a few years old and loved it. Sadly, it was stolen last year. So I now have a cheaper model from Wal-Mart. Works but not the same.

This is something "I" would like to have if I were to purchase something on a budget. I did not shop around for the best price or the best product by the way. I just found the first thing that fit my quickly made criteria.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get a Globe, hybrid mountain/street bike. You will love it.

Its a nice light bike, and if you do any real trail riding you will come to appreciate that. Also, as our trail system expands, having the slightly wider wheel (wider than a pure street bike) will come in handy in those sections that may be almost completed, or under bridges where silt has washed up. Just a little more stability for those unexpected rough patches.

High Roller will keep you informed, maintained, and you won't regret buying there. I highly recommend it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the suggestions. I originally had considered Schwinn in the beginning. But I've had some coworkers who didn't seem very impressed with their bikes nowadays. Granted they're a lot more bicycles than me. As I said before I was impressed with Highroller Cyclery. I'm leaning towards something with fenders. Parts of the trail tend to have water like the tunnels on the Scull Creek Trail. I'm also considering using this bicycle to do some commuting to work as well. So fenders would help keep me clean and dry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All the lights are working in the tunnel under the Fulbright Expressway again. Looks like they've been working a lot on connected sidewalks or making sidewalks over to a number of the apartment complexes parking lots along the Scull Creek Trail. But still no more lampposts though. Wonder when they'll get around to that. Oh and they're adding fences along the southern part of the Scull Creek trail near the railroad tracks. Not sure if the railroad requested that. I've seen people walk on the railroad tracks before in a number of areas. Although I guess the trail itself will mean there will be more people near them and they're just trying to keep people off them as much as possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All the lights are working in the tunnel under the Fulbright Expressway again.

Looks like I was premature in this announcement. The lights seem to be coming on and going off periodically. When I went by today there were several lights off again. Seems like it's the very same ones as before. Not sure this is a sign they're about to go out or what.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw something in the newspaper recently mentioning Springdale making more of an effort to work on it's trail system. It also mentioned the amount of miles each NWA city had. Fayetteville leads the list at 20 miles, Bentonville apparently has 15. Then Rogers comes in with 6 miles and Springdale with 4. The bad thing though is with the current economy trails will probably not be high up on the list of things to get done. So it might be quite a while before we can think about a comprehensive NWA trail system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of days ago I walked a section of the Mud Creek trail that I hadn't been on since the ice storm. The damage was incredible- dozens of trees uprooted and even more that had the top half snapped off not to mention all the other branches that had fallen. The amount of debris in the low-lying heavily wooded areas of town is going to create a fire hazzard when it gets hot and dry this summer. I guess these areas had weaker trees because the destruction was worse than other areas it seems. I wonder what the plan is to deal with the debris - if there is one. I imagine it would be very expensive and take years to try and remove all of it. Some of the-low lying areas are wetland protected so nothing is supposed to be done with those trees. Certainly hope something can be done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of days ago I walked a section of the Mud Creek trail that I hadn't been on since the ice storm. The damage was incredible- dozens of trees uprooted and even more that had the top half snapped off not to mention all the other branches that had fallen. The amount of debris in the low-lying heavily wooded areas of town is going to create a fire hazard when it gets hot and dry this summer. I guess these areas had weaker trees because the destruction was worse than other areas it seems. I wonder what the plan is to deal with the debris - if there is one. I imagine it would be very expensive and take years to try and remove all of it. Some of the-low lying areas are wetland protected so nothing is supposed to be done with those trees. Certainly hope something can be done.

It looked like they have gone through parts of the Scull Creek Trail and picked up a lot of the tree limbs and such. I'm not sure though if it was in part up to the apartment complexes that were responsible for that land or if it was the city. But hopefully they'll eventually get over to that part of the trail system. I noticed a section of the Mudd Creek Trail that looked like it will need some attention at some point. The section of trail right behind the P&G offices look like tree roots have caused the asphalt to buckle. I also thought that section of trail seemed rather narrow compared to other sections of the trail as well. Not sure if it's just a really old section of trail or what.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I've been forgetting to mention, a few weeks back the America in Bloom Committee planted some flowers on the Scull Creek trail on the northernmost bridge before the trail turns east to Steele Ave. I noticed they still haven't got the new bridge on the Mudd Creek Trail finished yet. I'd also been wondering about the tunnel underneath the Fullbright Expressway. Since it's a low spot what happens as dirt and mud continues to accumulate in it? Well apparently the city has some sort of machine to take care of that. I could tell it had been recently cleaned. Nice to have it cleaned up with all the mud gone. It was also the driest I've seen since it also mopped up a lot of the wet spots. Although I'm sure the water will also slowly accumulate again as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No big surprises that the small tunnel under Appleby is flooded. It seems to flood a bit after any rain. Although this time it's pretty deep. The northern part of the tunnel underneath the Fullbright Expressway is caked in about 1/2 to about an 1" of mud. Shame since they just cleaned the whole tunnel out in the last week or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like I won't be able to hit the trails as often as I wanted to now that the weather has warmed up. The tunnels don't look too inviting on a bike or on foot with all the mud and tree limbs that have washed into them. Oh well, I'm still glad the trails are there, mud piles and all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine that since those tunnels were originally built to carry water they won't ever be clean after a good rain. It would be nice if they could raise the floor of them a little above the ones not being used for a trail or divert the water a little like some of them do now. There is still a lot of cleanup to do from that ice storm along the trails.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine that since those tunnels were originally built to carry water they won't ever be clean after a good rain. It would be nice if they could raise the floor of them a little above the ones not being used for a trail or divert the water a little like some of them do now. There is still a lot of cleanup to do from that ice storm along the trails.

Well all the rain seems to be collecting a lot of the debris at the bridges. It would be nice if they could put in somewhat elevated surface in the tunnels. Overall the tunnels hold up after most rains but it's the really hard rains that seem to cause problems. Maybe also once more grass grows along some areas to help cut down the amount of exposed dirt as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like there's some work being done over on North St by the Scull Creek Trail. I think they're finally starting to put in the pedestrian island. Looks like they're in the process of starting to eventually move the west bound lanes north a couple of feet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like parts of the Fayetteville Trail system will be in use by the Hogeye Marathon this Sunday April 5th. I'm not sure just how much will be in use but apparently the Scull Creek trail will be. Apparently the trail will still be open to the public but people are expected to yield to runners.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed three lights on the Scull Creek Trail near Washington Regional were busted out yesterday. Hopefully vandalism isn't going to be a big problem for the trail system. On a good note I've noticed the city putting up some little stands that have nice maps of the trail system up. I saw two on the section of the Scull Creek trail, one north of Gordon Long Park and one a bit south of the tunnel under Gregg St near the low water bridge. Someone said there's also one near Sycamore or North St. Looks like each map is slightly different and each has a tidbit of info for each map. The tunnel under the Fulbright Expressway is apparently 650 ft long. I noticed the distances listed on the map are a bit different from what I'd seen a while back ago on the city's website. I guess those were estimates and now they've been officially measured.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.