Last week, Bicycle Advocacy for Central Arkansas (BACA) had Jon Honeywell, Little Rock’s Director of Public Works, as their special guest. Below are some updates on city projects that will make it easier to get around by walking and rolling:
Close the Loop. The Arkansas River Trail is supposed to be a 15.6 mile pedestrian and bike pathway along the river connecting Downtown Little Rock with North Little Rock and with neighborhoods West all the way to the Big Dam Bridge. However, there are several breaks in the path. The biggest break is by Dillard’s Headquarters, between the Gill Street Bridge and La Harpe Boulevard, and it has been long debated on how the city can “close the loop” here.
While this land technically belongs to the city, Dillard’s has a 99 year lease and has not budged on allowing a path to run between the river and their building. So the City has created five alternative options. There are no current plans in development to address the section along Riverfront Drive, another unsafe section of the trail.
When asked about the 2017 Close the Loop proposal, Honeywell shared the initial price tag of $8-9M would in today’s dollars cost $20M. What else costs $20M? One-third of an indoor sports complex.
Markham Street Road Diet. The City approved funding Phase 1 (Woodrow St. to Brown St.) back in January. Read our post about it here. The project has not gone out to bid yet because the funding is tied up in the federal grant process. Once it comes through, the City will put it out for bid for a private contractor to install. The City plans to apply to an upcoming Metroplan grant that will open in Fall 2024 with a target for the complete construction to happen in 2025.
Rose Creek Trail. Championed by the Rose Creek Initiative, this trail will eventually be an important connector between the Southwest Trail and the Arkansas River Trail. The City has about 30% of the design complete and is working on securing land easements to have public access for the trail.
Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP). The Department of Transportation had a recent grant opportunity to support cities develop more infrastructure for people who walk, bike, and roll. Little Rock has no shortage of sidewalk needs, so it seemed like a no brainer to apply. There was an opportunity to get up to a $15M dollar construction grant, but the 20% grant made this too lofty of a pursuit (i.e. Little Rock doesn’t have this budget to put towards better sidewalks and bike lanes). Instead, the City applied for a $2M planning grant for a section of the Central Beltway Corridor. Details for it can be found from the Central Arkansas Greenways Plan, available here.
