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Latest Southwest Trail plans displayed during public presentations to help grow support

The public will get the closest look yet at proposed routes and alignments for the 63-mile bike/pedestrian path.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - The Southwest Trail, a multi-million dollar transportation project, is getting another public hearing this week. The public will get the closest look yet at proposed routes and alignments for the 63-mile bike/pedestrian path.

The meetings, in Saline, Garland and Pulaski Counties, are mandated because federal grants and money are being used to build it.

“We're looking for feedback from the community to determine really where the preferred alignment should be,” said Jeff Arey, the Saline County judge. "Trails like this are community builders. They are economic drivers. People are looking to build and have a healthier lifestyle and these do all of those things.”

The Southwest Trail would link Hot Springs National Park with the Central High Historic Site in Little Rock, along with a paved and boardwalk trail. Along the way, it would cross the Old Saline Bridge, currently undergoing a $2-million refurbishment.

“So far what we've seen is an inundation of support for the trail across the entire 60-mile corridor,” said Wallace Smith, the project manager for Garver Engineering, the Little Rock contractor designing the trail for the three counties and the Arkansas Dept. of Transportation. “We’ve designed trails like this all across the country. It’s good to get to do one here at home.”

The meetings this week aim to build even more support. There is an “open house” format with maps and proposed routes laid out on tables. Property owners along the proposed routes have already gotten invites, though at least one participant at the Saline meeting in Benton was disgruntled.

“I’m against it,” said Charlie Wilkinson, who owns land along US-70 in Saline County. “Not when there's money that could be spent on other things. Bicyclers can go bicycle anywhere in the world, main roads can be bicycled on. No big deal. No one's ever stopped them from doing it.”

Backers are selling the concept to other property owners and civic leaders by saying once built, it sells itself. They point to the Razorback Trail in Northwest Arkansas as an indicator.

“Once that trail was constructed, different municipalities, they're so excited about it, they're connecting side connectors to the trail,” Smith said. “Like any project, once you get started and you gain momentum and move forward.”

The Garland County meeting will be Nov. 14 at the Embassy Suites in Hot Springs. The Pulaski County meeting is the following night, Nov. 15, at the Centre at University Park on W. 12th St. in Little Rock. Hours in both cases are 4pm-7pm.

The proposal is expected to cost about $40-million, and grants and federal funds have so far paid for the design work. Backers will continue to use grants and possibly private donations once construction gets started after the environmental assessments come back in the fall of 2019.

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