By: Max Vanderglas
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – The Fayetteville Active Transportation plan will bring paved trails to Fayetteville. The city council hopes to create a connection of trails within a 10 minute walk of every residence in Fayetteville by 2040.
Along with bringing a connection of trails, officials from the transportation plan has a list of goals that they hope to accomplish with the project.
They want to create an equitable multimodal transportation system that everyone can use at any age or ability.
They want to encourage new participation in active transportation. Political Science professor Janine Parry agrees as she said she walks or bikes to campus everyday.
“I live just about a mile from campus, and I’m almost always on foot or bicycle, and that’s been true for pretty much 20 years,” Parry said. “I have a lot of people in my neighborhood who drive to campus, and I can tell you from experience that especially when you live that close. It often actually takes less time, and it’s far less stressful to walk or ride a bike than it is to drive a car and try to park it on campus.”
Parry is not alone in walking to campus, as senior student at the University of Arkansas, Cole Sellars, said that he walks to class everyday to keep him in shape as well as cut down on his emission.
“I think it’s important for students and young adults to be walking to cut down on our carbon footprint, and also walking to places gets us active, gets the heart rate going and can keep us in shape, and can ultimately keep us younger and more healthy,” Sellars said.
The plan is also trying to get down to zero fatalities or injuries to vulnerable roadway users by 2030. They want to keep pedestrians on the sidewalk safe.
Finally, the trials will also enhance opportunities for people with disabilities to get out on the trials. They will be wheelchair friendly and will help people who can walk, roll, cycle or use other mobility services, get outside and enjoy the fresh air.
The city council met on February 7th to have a discussion on the plan, and voted 8-0 on the plan. City council member Sonia Harvery said she would like to hold the result for two weeks until February 21st to allow more time for residents to consider and review the plan.
The city council met again on February 21st and again voted 8-0 to approve the resolution of the Fayetteville Active Transportation Plan.