River Trail Updates

On a recent trip to the bridge at Two Rivers Park, I noticed the large scale sculpture/model of the Arkansas River showing major points of interest along the trail.  The concept of the River Trail has recently been extended to Pinnacle Mountain State Park on the south side of the river and to Palarm Park on the north.  In fact, plans are in place for a "Grand Loop" (shown below) that would reach Conway.   Much of the existing River Trail and the Grand Loop follow roads.  As long as the speed limits on these roads are 20-25 mph, that is pretty safe, but hopefully a separate trail will be built for the stretches on larger roads with faster moving traffic.

Key Points:

• The trail follows Crystal Hill Rd. in Maumelle for a while.  This allows it to be closer to the river and gets bikers off of busy, fast moving, Maumelle Blvd.
• It looks like they are making a real trail along the edge of parts of Maumelle Blvd.
• Maumelle has a great network of existing trails that will either form part of the River Trail or make for interesting, scenic detours.  This will also make it easier and safer for residents of Maumelle to commute by bike to work in North Little Rock and Little Rock.
• On the south side, the trail extends to Two Rivers Park via the new bridge, and then to Maumelle Park.  I believe the separate trail ends there and the River Trail follows Pinnacle Valley Rd., AR-300, AR-113, AR-60, and AR-89 for most of the Grand Loop.

The original map and up-to-date info can be found at: http://arkansasrivertrail.org/maps/

View River Trail Expanded in a larger map

Arkansas Least Bike Friendly State

  The League of American Bicyclists ranks Arkansas #50 in terms of bike friendliness.  I'm a little shocked to see that ranking given all the money and work that has been put into trails in both the central and northwestern parts of the state, but even in Little Rock and Fayetteville you don't have to look far to find tons of room for improvement.  The rankings looked at lots of variables and the report shows that Arkansas lags far behind in terms of legislation, programs, infrastructure, funding, education, and planning.  Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised we are last given that some Arkansans believe bike trails are part of a conspiracy to take away people's cars while others think trails like the River Trail are a complete waste of money and should be converted to roads to decrease commutes for people who choose to live and pay property taxes 30 miles away from Little Rock, but still want to get there and leave ASAP, with little concern for local quality of life.  If you happen to agree with that sentiment, check out these traffic numbers for the Big Dam and Two Rivers bridges.
  Last year, I was excited to see that Bicycling magazine ranked Little Rock as one of America's 50 top bike-friendly cities, but my happiness was lessened upon reading that they ranked Little Rock #49 and only because they wanted their article to have geographical diversity and not just be a list of 50 cities in California and Oregon.
  If you want to see Arkansas break out of last place:
1.  Read this piece on Master Plans in various cities in the state.
2.  Let your local, state, and federal elected officials know you enjoy trails and would like to see more of them.
3.  Push for increased funding for trails.  Make sure someone in your local government is aware of all the various funding sources for trails.
4.  Join BACA or BCO or at least check out their websites to learn more about the issues.
5.  Work to get your town or university designated as "bike-friendly".  Interestingly enough, this designation is granted by the League of American Bicyclists.  Fayetteville, Conway, and North Little Rock have achieved Bronze status in this program.
6.  Volunteer to help design and maintain trails in your community.
7.  To see the actual report for Arkansas and specific statewide policies we are lacking, click here.

River Trail Updates

The River Trail is coming closer and closer to completion.  About a month ago the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge (Rock Island Bridge) was opened to the public, connecting the eastern end of the River Trail with a bridge that doesn't require bikers to compete with cars (Main St.) or take several flights of stairs (Junction Bridge).

Near the recently completed bridge, a nice new boardwalk has opened to take visitors through the William E. Clark Presidential Wetlands.  Visitors to the wetlands can learn about native plants and wildlife, while taking in nice views of the Arkansas River and downtown Little Rock.  Herons, beavers, large turtles, and massive fish can all be seen from the boardwalk.   

I was also very excited to see that Metroplan paid for plans to be drawn up for the final segment of the River Trail connecting Riverdale to Downtown.  This section of the trail currently follows unattractive roads and tiny sidewalks through western downtown Little Rock making it the least safe and least aesthetically pleasing section of the trail.  As someone who is very proud of Little Rock, this stretch of the trail has long been a source of embarrassment and shame for me given that North Little Rock stole our concerts, our baseball games, and now they have the most complete and most beautiful sections of the River Trail.

Sadly, the article about the new plans mentions that the right-of-way has not been finalized and that funding has yet to be located, meaning I may have to be embarrassed for Little Rock for a few more years to come.

Photos and map below the fold.

When Bikes Beat Cars

When I lived in Berkeley, it was faster to bike almost anywhere within a 4 mile radius than it was to drive and find parking.  This was due to very progressive transportation policies and road designs that put bikes first and cars second.  But what about in Arkansas, a non-progressive place where cars and trucks rule?

I used to live in the Riverdale area and worked in North Little Rock off Northshore Dr.  I commuted by bike sometimes when the weather was nice and was pleasantly surprised to find that it took me roughly the same amount of time to bike as it did to drive.  How is that possible you might ask?  Well, thanks to the Big Dam Bridge, my bike commute was 5-6 miles, while my driving commute was 9, on a road with lots of traffic lights or 14 miles taking the interstate.  Now, obviously I can't bike 60 or 45 mph or even half of that, but think about what your average speed really is during rush hour.  If I averaged 12 mph by bike, I'd get there in the same amount of time as if I averaged 20 mph on Cantrell which has lots of traffic, numerous lights, and often a 5 minute wait to get on the highway.

This got me wondering if there were other commutes in Arkansas where bikes beat cars as opposed to being 20 minutes slower, but healthier and lots more fun.

If you have a bike commute that is faster than your car commute let me know and I'll put it up here!

Here is the most drastic example I've found:

Building Bridges - Connecting Communities, Trails, and Parks

This year has been a big one for bridge building in Little Rock. The Big Dam bridge got a baby brother this summer when the Little Maumelle bridge was completed.  This attractive and already heavily used bridge connects an extension of the River Trail to Two Rivers Park.  For most Little Rockians, this makes Two Rivers Park much more accessible, as people living in Riverdale, The Heights, and Hillcrest can now bike to Two Rivers in less time than it would take them to drive.

Down the river on the other side of town, the Junction Bridge is expecting a sibling as well.  The Rock Island bridge is getting a face-lift and will soon play host to bikers and pedestrians travelling between Little Rock and North Little Rock or making the River Trail loop.  Unlike the Junction Bridge, this bridge has a continuous ramp, so bikers will no longer have to dismount and take lots of stairs or an elevator to get across the river.

These bridges and the trails they connect, will have (and are already having) a major positive impact on the quality of life and health of the citizens of Little Rock and North Little Rock.

Where should the next bridge be built?  Somewhere over Fourche Creek?  Between the Big Dam Bridge and the Junction Bridge?  Or would that money be better spent helping pave some of the many proposed trails out there?