Fayetteville officials want the public’s opinion on planned improvements to the Mission Boulevard corridor.
The project will include enhancements of the roadway and bike facilities on the 1.5-mile stretch from Viewpoint Drive to Maple Street.
A multi-use trail is planned to travel along the east side of Mission Boulevard in front of Root Elementary School, extending past Old Wire Road to North Street where it will transition to the west side of the road.
Officials said with the completion of the Old Wire Cycle Track in 2019 and the Niokaska Creek Trail in mid-2020, this section of Mission Boulevard is the missing gap for connectivity to the historic district, downtown, and the Razorback Greenway.
The trail will be separated from the roadway, with a new curb and a 6-foot-wide greenspace that will include light poles and street trees for improved aesthetics and to serve as buffer for the trail.
A traffic roundabout is proposed at the North Street intersection to relieve automobile congestion while providing improved crosswalks for the sidewalks and trail, according to a news release (the roundabout idea has since been scrapped). Additional crosswalks will also be constructed along the corridor with user-activated flashing yellow lights for safe access to the trail from the adjacent neighborhoods.
The work will also include an improved on-street bikeway from Mission Boulevard along Rebecca Street to the signalized crossing at College Avenue, and will continue along Trenton Boulevard to Park Avenue and Prospect Street to provide safer access to the Razorback Greenway.
The project, which will be constructed primarily within the existing public right-of-way, is part of the 2019 voter-approved bond issue for street and trail improvements.
If all goes according to plan, construction would begin sometime in 2022.
Ideas and comments are encouraged through an online survey at speakup.fayetteville-ar.gov/mission-blvd-corridor-trail.
