The bike trail project will be built in several phases. The first phase includes the green route and a portion of the red routes shown above.

Source: Vandergriff Elementary

Volunteers are needed for another workday to help clear the way for the first phase of a new bike trail planned at Vandergriff Elementary and McNair Middle School in east Fayetteville.

The soft surface trail will start near the north side of McNair, and will head north toward Township Street where it will wind through the woods north of Vandergriff and then loop back to the school.

Jason Edwards, assistant principal at Vandergriff, said the trail started as an Eagle Scout project for former Vandergriff student Drew Rutledge, but has since evolved into a large-scale program to provide a place for students to ride bicycles during PE classes as well an outdoor area for classes studying nature.

Edwards said the trail will be used exclusively by students during the day, but it will be open to the public after school hours.

Assistance for the project is being provided by Ozark Off Road Cyclists and Progressive Trail Designs.

Volunteers will meet at Vandergriff Elementary in the Victory Garden at 4 p.m. Monday, June 22, and will spend the afternoon marking paths, clearing bushes, and preparing the area for trail construction. Participants may work for as long as they’d like, and are encouraged to bring water, work gloves, and insect repellant. Other items that will be useful (but not mandatory) are shovels, wheelbarrows, loppers, and pick axes.

For more information, call 479-527-3600 or email [email protected]