FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 20, 2016
Contact: Matt Mihalevich Trails Coordinator
Engineering Divisionmmihalevich@fayetteville-ar.gov
479.444.3416
AHTD Awards Fayetteville $556,000 for Trail Improvements
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) awarded two grants totaling $556,000 to the City of Fayetteville from the state’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). The program provides funding projects defined as “transportation alternatives” for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-motorized forms of transportation. TAP is a reimbursement-type grant program that provides for an 80 percent federal share and a 20 percent local match from eligible applicants as part of the federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).
The City received a $500,000 grant for the Mud Creek Trail lighting project. Funds will be used to light the Mud Creek Trail from Old Missouri Road to the Razorback Greenway. It addition the grant funding will also allow the City to continue installing lights along the greenway from just north of the Fulbright Expressway to the Fayetteville/Johnson city limit. The 181 new LED lights will match existing fixtures on the City’s trail system and cover a total of 3.3 miles.
Some TAP funds are set aside for the state’s Recreational Trails Program (RTP) that allows for maintenance and restoration of existing trails, development, and rehabilitation of trailside and trailhead facilities and trail linkages, and construction of new trails. The City will use the awarded $56,000 to replace approximately 670 linear feet of deteriorating asphalt, located just north of W. Maple Street, on the Frisco Trail section of the Razorback Greenway. The trail replacement will include full depth excavation to solid ground with select fill to provide a stable foundation for the new 12-foot wide concrete surface.
Both projects have an estimated completion of summer of 2017. The City’s 20 percent match is $139,000 and has been budgeted through the trail development fund. To learn more about the City’s trail construction program, please visit this webpage.
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