SPRINGDALE -- The city of Springdale wants to realign the Razorback Regional Greenway as it crosses over West Emma Avenue.
The street sits at the heart of the city's growing downtown district.
Council members, working as a committee of the whole on Monday, saw artist's renderings of the re-imagined space, presented by Patsy Christie, director of the city's Planning Department.
At its next regular meeting April 26, the council will vote to contract with McClelland Construction to make the changes.
The total cost of construction is set at $4.5 million, with the city paying $1.2 million, Christie said.
The Walton Family Foundation provided the city with a $1.8 million Design Excellence Grant for the design of the trail through Springdale.
Christie said the city was asked to apply to the foundation for a construction grant for this realignment. The grant was awarded to the city at $3.1 million.
Christie said the foundation agreed to pay for the costs directly related to the greenway, leaving the city to pay for the streetscape from Holcomb Street to Spring Street.
Dean LaGrone, a member of the city's former Trails Committee, said the new alignment makes more sense for a bicyclist. The approaches to Emma Avenue now require very sharp turns on both the north and south sides.
"There are just a lot of things happening in that area," he said.
LaGrone said the original alignment of the greenway was all that was available at the time it was built. He also noted it's nobody's fault that the design needs upgrading.
The trail's new approach from Meadow Avenue north to Emma Avenue will provide a plaza space and gathering areas on both sides of the trail, Christie explained.
The Regional Razorback Greenway was opened May 2, 2015, with a ribbon cutting on Emma Avenue.
Christie said the Emma Avenue crossing marked the exact center of the trail -- Mile 13 -- when the 26-mile trail opened, but the trail has been extended to 37.5 miles from Kessler Mountain in the south and Bella Vista in the north, leaving Springdale at Mile 16.