Fayetteville sign campaign preaches trail etiquette, safety

Glen Reavis (right) places a sign along Scull Creek Trail while working with Dane Eifling (left) and Daniel and Kendra Butterfield in Fayetteville. For photo galleries, go to nwadg.com/photos.
Glen Reavis (right) places a sign along Scull Creek Trail while working with Dane Eifling (left) and Daniel and Kendra Butterfield in Fayetteville. For photo galleries, go to nwadg.com/photos.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Anyone who has walked, ran or ridden their bike on a Fayetteville trail knows the feeling.

Three people are up ahead walking side by side, making it difficult to pass.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Daniel Butterfield (right), places a sign along Scull Creek Trail on Wednesday while working with Dane Eifling, bicycle coordinator for Fayetteville (left), Glen Reavis and Kendra Butterfield, also with the real estate company, in Fayetteville. The signs suggest riding etiquette for trail users and were provided for by a donation from Specialized Real Estate Group.

Trail Etiquette

Signs designed by the Fayetteville Sustainability and Resilience Department and paid for by Specialized Real Estate Group contain the following six messages:

• “Share the trail”

• “Pass with care”

• “Relax … Enjoy the ride!”

• “Use a light at night”

• “Three’s a crowd … Stay right & allow room to pass”

• “You love your dog … So keep your furry friend close”

Source: Staff Report

Someone's dog is on a retractable leash, taking up both lanes of traffic.

Or a cyclist zips by you at a high rate of speed, without even bothering to let you know they're approaching.

Workers in the city's Sustainability and Resilience Department hope a sign campaign will help with some of those recurring issues.

"It's the things that keep coming up over and over and over," Dane Eifling, city bicycle coordinator, said. "This isn't going to address all of the problems, but at least it's doing something."

The multicolored signs, designed by Lee Porter, sustainability project coordinator, feature messages such as "Share the trail," "Pass with care" and "Keep your furry friend close."

Two hundred signs cost $1,500 and were paid for by Specialized Real Estate Group, the Fayetteville-based company that has built multiple apartment complexes near trails in recent years.

The signs can go up anywhere along the city's trail system, but, primarily, they were placed Wednesday along the backbone of the system: the Scull Creek Trail.

"We want them in high traffic areas," Eifling said. "Most of the messages pertain to sharing space between cyclists and pedestrians."

Sarah King, spokeswoman for Specialized Real Estate, said the company wanted to do something in conjunction with the May 2 grand opening of the Razorback Regional Greenway, a 36-mile trail stretching from south Fayetteville to north Bentonville.

"We kind of have a learning curve with all of these newfound opportunities for bicycling," King said. "There's a great opportunity for people to learn about bike etiquette and safety, so we can all take advantage of the trail and enjoy it."

Connie Edmonston, Parks and Recreation director, knows firsthand how important practicing proper trail etiquette can be.

Edmonston fractured her pelvis and cracked her bike helmet in three places in July after coming around a corner at Lake Fayetteville and swerving to avoid a little girl on the wrong side of the trail.

"There were several issues there," Edmonston said Wednesday. "People who walk two or three abreast: They need to see that as a highway. There's a yellow line there that says do not cross unless you're passing, and then you need to give verbal warning."

She added cyclists are limited to no more than 15 mph on city trails.

"When riding down those hills, you can't just go as fast as you can," Edmonston said.

"Our trail system is something out there to enjoy being on, but there's a lot of other people out there enjoying it, too," she said. "You've got to watch the other people out there, just like when you're driving. These signs are a good way to get that into people's heads."

NW News on 04/23/2015

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