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For inspiration, I'm posting a story about a 12-foot paved trail to be built that will encircle a small city. Why not have one for Austin? Sure, it would have to be longer than 29 miles to encircle the city, but there is a larger tax base here as well. And how can we let ourselves fall behind a city in Arkansas in regards to bicycle facilities?
A couple passages in the article indicate that the off-street facility is _not_ to be a substitute for on-street bicycle access, though this article does focus on interest in off-street facilities.
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/248609/
NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Jonesboro getting in gear to build 29-mile bike trailBY KENNETH HEARD
Posted on Monday, January 5, 2009
JONESBORO - Jonesboro parks planners envision a 29-mile asphalt trail looping around the city, connecting parks, a school, a shopping mall and Arkansas State University.
About 1,000 feet of the 12-foot-wide concrete roadway has been finished, joining Allen Park Community Center with Nettleton Intermediate School in south Jonesboro.
The city has received state funding for another 2,000 feet, and construction should begin early this year, Jonesboro Parks and Recreation Director Jason Wilkie said.
He hopes to have the first phase of the three-phased path, or "greenway," finished within five years. However, completion is contingent upon federal and state funding.
"It's slow-going," Wilkie said.
The project is projected to cost about $17 million. The city has received some funding from the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Department and the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's Trails for Life program.
The city will cut some expenses by using its road department to level, grade and pave the path.
The project is the result of a 2002 survey the city conducted that showed Jonesboro residents favored walking and bicycling activities. Walking ranked as the top activity for Jonesboro adults and third for children, Wilkie said.
But Jonesboro, a city of 55,500, had no bicycle paths for riders, and safety was an issue.
"I'm teaching my kids to ride bikes in the road," Wilkie said. "Unless you want to haul your bike across town to [a city park] in your car, there's nowhere to ride."
The first phase of the project, which will cost $3 million, connects the Allen Park Community Center with the Mall of Turtle Creek, Arkansas State University and downtown.
A second phase follows Entergy utility easements from Joe Mack Campbell Park in west Jonesboro, around the U.S. 63 bypass to the Southside Baseball complex on Arkansas 1 and back to the community center.
"We're piecing this together with grants," Wilkie said of the routes. "If we can find the money, we can do this."
Wilkie has found alternative ways to help develop the greenway.
Last summer, he applied for ownership of a historic bridge the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department was giving away.
The department will replace a Parker pony-truss bridge east of Cash when highway crews widen Arkansas 226 in 2010. The two-lane bridge was built in 1928, and the highway department will pay up to $100,000 to move it, said Robert Scoggin, a historical resource coordinator for the department.
The bridge will fit perfectly in spanning a drainage creek just south of the Mall of Turtle Creek, Wilkie said.
The trail is similar to one in Fayetteville, which recently opened a 4.4-mile section of the Scull Creek Trail that extends from Maple Street north to the Mud Creek Trail.
Voters in the Washington County city approved a $2.1 million bond issue in 2005 that partially funded the concrete trail.
"We're hearing nothing but great things about the trail," said Matt Mihalevich, the trail coordinator.
A portion of the trail runs along Dickson Street near the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Walkers, joggers and bikers can access several restaurants and shops, Mihalevich said.
About 2,000 use the walkway daily, he said.
"It's helped us recruit industries," he added. Procter and Gamble Co. set up along the Mud Creek Trail portion of the greenway and provides bicycles for employees to ride during breaks.
Wilkie hopes the greenway will attract more business to Jonesboro.
"When this is done, we can have kids walking to school, places to bike and ways to connect neighborhoods," Wilkie said. "Industries look for that kind of thing when they're thinking of coming here."
Jason Broadaway, manager of Gearhead Outfitters, a Jonesboro bicycle repair shop, said he's seen an increase in biking enthusiasm since the greenway plans were announced.
"We're going to have a bicycle boom here like they did in Little Rock seven years ago when Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France," he said. "The cycling scene here has suffered because there's no access.
"It's definitely growing here in Jonesboro, and the greenway is something we really need," he said. "Greenways have been proven to improve property values, and it shows that the city is progressive."
Wilkie envisions eventually connecting the Jonesboro greenway with the Mississippi River Trail, a 3,000-mile trail that runs through 10 states.
"Theoretically, you could get on your bike in Jonesboro and ride to New Orleans," Wilkie said.
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Tom, thanks for posting this. We have pieces of a circle the city bikeway in planning or nearing construction - namely on the northern and eastern sides of the city. The Walnut Creek Trail will ultimately connect balcones district park just west of Mopac to Govalle Park just east of Airport Blvd - a 16 mile 12 foot wide fully ADA accessible concrete trail. The first 3 mile phase is slated to go out to bid (Balcones to Walnut Creek Metro Park) in 2009, a contract for design has been awarded for the So. Walnut Creek Section from Govalle to just south of 290. the section from Walnut Creek Metro Park to 1-35 is slated to go to design contract later this year as well. This is the work of many years of work, starting in the mid-1990s and requiring a bond election in 1998 to purchase the land as well as help from Congress, namely Congressman Doggett.
That said, we need a lot more miles of trail or on-street facilities to help us both ring the city as well as connect our major trails. there are are going number of groups and projects (Town Lake Trail Broadwalk, Walk for a Day, Oak Hill to Downtown Trails, Country Club Creek (town lake to Onion Creek) that are actively working on developing maps, building trails on the ground, getting land access, etc, but there's plenty of work to be done.
The Austin Parks Foundation (the organization I work for) has received two years of assistance from the National Park Service rivers, trails and conservation assistance program to help us revise a master trails plan for the greater austin area as well as a cookbook of how to navigate funding, development rules and more. We'll be looking to all trail as well as on road bicycle facility advocates to help us in the public process as we get started a little later this year. I'll keep you posted on upcoming meetings and opportunities. We'll need everyone who is interested to be involved in this process.
Charlie McCabe
Austin Parks Foundation
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