A crew works Wednesday morning to prepare for the installation of a bridge over Hamestring Creek in west Fayetteville. / Photo and maps: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer

Installation of a bridge over Hamestring Creek began Wednesday as part of a new trail connection in west Fayetteville.

The project is located west of Interstate 49 between Mount Comfort Road and Wedington Drive, and includes a bicycle and pedestrian connection to Hamestring Creek Trail between the Pine Valley neighborhood and the hundreds of residents north of Wedington Drive.

Trail construction began in March, and crews are now onto one of the final piece of the project which includes adding a 20-foot-wide by 24-foot-long bridge over Hamestring Creek.

 

Residents in the Wedington Drive corridor have for many years requested a safer and easier way to access Fayetteville’s trail system and the Razorback Greenway.

Without the connection, residents must either cross the Interstate 49 interchange bridge or use a capped sewer line to cross Hamestring Creek if they’re headed to the trail system. During high water, the sewer line crossing is not an option.

The new bridge will create an all-weather trail connection across the creek and through a small neighborhood to Meadow Valley Trail, which connects to the greenway and the backbone of the city’s trail system.

The project is part of the 2019 voter-approved bond issue.