City Nabs Grant
NEW ROUTE WILL LINK UNIVERSITY, NEIGHBORHOOD
Posted: November 9, 2009 at 4:55 a.m.
FAYETTEVILLE — Bike riders in the Center Street and Hill Avenue neighborhood will soon have a new trail to take them to nearby University of Arkansas.
Fayetteville recently was awarded a $116,534 federal grant from the Arkansas Recreational Trails Program to help construct the 0.5-mile Oak Ridge Trail. Fayetteville applied for a $148,000 grant.
“This is actually the largest award we have ever received from this grant,” said Matt Mihalevich, Fayetteville trails coordinator.
The Oak Ridge Trail project is estimated to cost $185,000, Mihalevich said. After the grant, the remaining money to complete the project will be split 50-50 between the city and the university. The cost to the city and the university is estimated to be $34,233 each.
The trail will connect with the Frisco Trail at Center Street and continue west to Harmon Avenue. The trail will then follow a vacant right of way through the wooded hillside between California Boulevard and the UA Business School, ending at Garland Avenue near Pomfret Hall. A future phase of the trail will extend north between Stadium Drive and Garland Avenue and connect to Razorback Stadium.
“The Oak Ridge Trail will provide a safe alternative transportation route from the primary north-south trail of the system to the U of A and Fayetteville High School,” said Lindsley Smith, Fayetteville communication director.
Other trails soon to come online includes the Lake Fayetteville Trail.
“Construction is going very well now that the rain has finally let up,” Mihalevich said. “The new section will be 1.6 miles long and include a 140-foot single-span bridge over Clear Creek.”
The bridge is expected to be installed in late November.
“Currently the paved trail is 2.7 miles long so with the new phase we will have 4.3 miles of paved trail at Lake Fayetteville with one more mile to complete the loop around,” Mihalevich said. “We expect to have the trail complete by January 2010.”
(Advertisement)
« Previous Story
RETAIL DEVELOPMENTS: Businesses Open
A clothing and home accessories boutique, a barbecue restaurant and a flea market all recently opened in Rogers, taking space in vacant commercial real estate. Read »
Next Story »
Expansion Nears End
The vestibule is almost done, as is the trellis. Work continues on the first phase of upgrades to Ozark Natural Foods and should be finished by the end of the month. Read »
Comments
To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Registration is required to make comments. Click here to LOGIN.
You can register for FREE to post comments and receive alerts.