Thousands celebrate the official opening of Razorback Greenway

Residents of Northwest Arkansas celebrated Saturday alongside federal, state and local officials as the ribbon was cut shortly after noon to mark the official opening of the Razorback Greenway, a 36-mile paved multi-use trail extending from Bella Vista to the south side of Fayetteville.

As the ribbon was cut, a group of about 80 Springdale School District  students were the first to ride through the opening in ceremonial style. Residents have been using the trail as parts of it were opened over the past few months.

Grand opening events were held earlier in the day in Fayetteville, Rogers and Bentonville. The trail connects the three cities plus Springdale, as well as Lowell and Johnson. It provides access to destinations such as schools, shopping centers, hospitals, parks, churches and the University of Arkansas.

The Greenway is billed as an alternative transportation route as well as a venue for physical activity.

“This is a great day, a great region. This opens up the region. We can all walk or ride the trail  now matter how diverse we are. Our diversity is our strength,” said Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan.

Rogers Mayor Greg Hines said the completion of the trail “marks a level of cooperation and collaboration unmatched anywhere in the country. This is awesome.”

That was the theme of several of the short speeches during the hour-long ceremony at Shiloh Square in downtown Springdale as bicyclists rode providing a backdrop for speakers, such as Karen Minkel, a director for the Walton Family Foundation which provided major funding for the construction, and Pete Jilek, with the Federal Highway Commission, which also provided grant funding for the project.

Other speakers during the event included Highway Commissioner Dick Trammell of Rogers; Mike Malone, director of the Northwest Arkansas Council; Chuck Flink, of ALTA Planning and Design, who paid tribute to the 129 landowners who leased land for the trail project; and Chris Wyrick of the University of Arkansas who led the audience in the Hog Call.

Other dignitaries in the audience of nearly 1,000, included former Highway Commissioner Bobby Hopper, Springdale philanthropist Walter Turnbow, along with representatives from Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Congressional delegation.

Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists of Washington D.C., said the trail would be a model for the entire country as other regions look for examples of government and local cooperation to build similar projects.

“This project is just the start of the profound impact it will have on the region,” Clarke said. “Change happens when something like this is built.”

After his remarks, Clarke said he rode a bike Saturday morning from Bentonville and planned to return by bike, calling the trip “amazing.” Before he took off on his bicycle, Clarke stood among the spectators who were milling around, saying this is what it will look like a year from now.”

John McLarty of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission said his staff logged some 5,000 hours on the project in the last four years. “This is an incredible dream come true.”

Quoting 2010 U.S. Census figures, McLarty said 76,000 people live within one-half mile of the trail and some 80,000 work within one-half mile of the trail. Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said thinking of all that the Greenway has done for his city, he is reminded of the word “give” as an anachronym for "generosity, investment, vision, everyone.”

Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse praised the trail as it travels alongside Spring Creek through the heart of downtown, saying “The Greenway is the catalyst we needed for the revitalization of downtown Springdale.”

It was the riders who cycled south from Fayetteville and south from Bentonville who made the day. Dave and Dorothy Owens started their 30-mile round trip journey from Dickson Street in Fayetteville, noting the trail provides scenic views along the way. They bought a home in Fayetteville when they moved from Nebraska near the trail to go the Fayetteville Farmers Market and other errands on the bikes.

Robert and Chassie Kirby of Springdale traveled to Bentonville for breakfast before returning to attend the ribbon cutting. Bruce Kirby said they would use the trail often for trips throughout the region  to shop or dine out in the different cities. The most scenic part of the trail are from downtown Springdale to the Silent Grove area on the city’s northwest side and an area from Locomotion to Clear Creek in Fayetteville, Kirby said.

“We don’t get in the car much anymore,” said his wife, Chassie.

David and Glenda Wolfe said they left Bentonville in a group of about 30 cyclists, stopping at Mercy Hospital for an opening ceremony there and picked up another 30 to 35 riders for the trip on to Springdale.

“It’s a pretty trail,” Wolfe said.

The trail represents an investment in excess of $30 million in Northwest Arkansas. The Walton Family Foundation donated $15 million and another $15 million was obtained through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant from the Federal Highway Administration.

Activities throughout the day were planned in each of the cities as well as the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad providing train rides from Fayetteville to Springdale. Jordan was among 100 or more (and their bikes) who rode the first train out of Fayetteville Saturday morning, calling it “great.”

It was Lowell Mayor Eldon Long who perhaps summed up the day’s activities and the access the trail provides to the entire region.

“W-O-W, wow is all I can think of,” Long said. “Where else can you ride your bike right up to the podium.”