The Morning News
Saturday, Jun 12, 2004
By Rebecca Stills (rstills@nwaonline.net)

LOWELL -- A piece here, a piece there and someday Lowell could have a meandering city-wide walking/biking trail, complete with passages under U.S. 71B and Interstate 540.

Of course, residents shouldn't expect construction on a massive trail to start in the next 24 hours or even the next month, officials said, but a new proposal shows what they envision as the first leg.

That section would be south of Arkansas 264, mainly along Puppy Creek. It would cross under U.S. 71B via a concrete box bridge south of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant now under construction. It would meander through what right now thick brambles, trees and mosquito patches.

Officials hope to extend the trail in the future to other areas in the city.

The only downside of the first section of the trail, officials said, is plans show it would connect one commercial area to another.

"You've got to start somewhere," said Kelly Kennedy, Lowell Planning Department secretary, in a Trails Committee meeting this week.

One commercial node is along the railroad tracks east of Jackson Street. The other is at J.B. Hunt Transport headquarters along Corporate Drive near the interstate.

J.B. Hunt, however, also owns 230 acres in a flood plain area east of the railroad tracks and is considering developing that land which could add another leg to the city trail, said Phil Swope, city engineer. 

That leg would break the commercial-to-commercial issue and lead the trail to greenery in the proposed 71-acres the city is in the process of purchasing for a park.

The J.B. Hunt Transport land on the other side of town off Interstate 540 could also extend the trail. Officials there are considering developing a running track on the business property and tying the track into the city trail.

A track and trail would benefit company employees who often already run along Lowell streets and cross busy highways as they participate in the company wellness program, said Eric Airola, director of benefits at J.B. Hunt. Plans for the track, however, are in the future, he said.

City officials must find a way to fill in a missing piece along the proposed trail. That piece, south of Centerpoint subdivision, is the only one city officials might have to pay to develop themselves. 

The city is using $20,000 from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to build one portion of the trail. That money was grant money for another project that AHTD officials agreed to transfer to the Puppy Creek Trail project.

Several landowners along the trail have said they're interested in developing the trail where it crosses their property, Swope said.

Some future developers in areas north of Arkansas 264 and west of Interstate 540 likely would be required to adhere to a master city trail plan by adding to the trail system where it crosses their property, Swope said.