A new trail connection will soon link the Razorback Greenway to Gulley Park.
City Council members today approved a construction contract for two new 12-foot-wide bridges to replace two existing 5-foot-wide bridges at Gulley Park. The wider bridges are needed to accommodate the upcoming Niokaska Creek Trail which will connect to Mud Creek Trail and provide direct access to the region’s growing trail system.
The new 12-foot-wide trail will exit the park and travel two miles northeast alongside Niokaska Creek towards North Crossover Road. The plan is to utilize an existing creek tunnel under Old Wire Road at the intersection of Crossover. From there, the trail will continue north with the creek and through Sweetbriar Park before heading west on a new 10-foot-wide path set to be built on the north side of Sweetbriar Drive. Mud Creek Trail begins at the intersection of Sweetbriar and Old Missouri Road.
The project also includes replacing about a mile of dilapidated asphalt along the existing trail loop inside Gulley Park.
City officials said the new trail will run within a quarter mile of an estimated 4,000 Fayetteville residents who previously had no nearby access to the trail system.
But that’s only part of the plan for Niokaska Creek Trail. The trail will eventually extend another mile southwest from Gulley Park along Old Wire Road to Mission Boulevard using a series of paths being built as part of the Old Wire Road Improvement Project.
A portion of that work was recently completed which includes a 12-foot-wide shared-use path from Mission to Ash Street. A second phase will soon begin that will include the region’s first dedicated cycle track from Ash to Gulley Park.
The cycle track will run along the east side of the road, and will include bike-specific signal upgrades at Township Street. A signalized crossing at Stanton Avenue is also in the works that will help residents safely cross over to Gulley Park from the west side of Old Wire Road.
The work on the first phase of Niokaska Creek Trail is scheduled to begin this spring, with the entirety of the project -including the cycle track – set to be completed sometime in early 2020.
