Cycle track example / Source: City of Fayetteville
The ongoing improvements to Old Wire Road will feature an added bonus once the project is complete.
City Council members on Tuesday unanimously approved a grant from the Walton Family Foundation to construct a cycle track along Old Wire between Ash Street and Gulley Park.
The $1.36 million 50/50 matching grant will also help pay for bicycle signals at Township Street, safety markings at other intersections, a concrete buffer between the street and other elements.
The grant is payable in two installments. The first will come once right of way acquisition is complete, and the second will come when 50 percent of the construction is finished.
Overall plans for improvements along Old Wire include a recently completed signal at Mission Boulevard, intersection improvements at Township Street, a turn lane at Ash Street, sidewalks on at least one side of the road from Mission to Crossover Road, improved pedestrian crossings at Old Missouri Road and Stanton Avenue, bike lanes and a multi-use path.
Instead of a building a standard bike path between Ash Street and Gulley Park, officials with the Walton Family Foundation requested a protected cycle track that could serve as a model for other improvements across the city and region.
According to staff documents, the enhanced bikeway will provide a protected facility, separated from both cars and pedestrians, which will create “the safest possible environment for all users.”
Cross-section plans for the project show an 11-foot-wide driving lane for vehicles, followed by a nearly 5.5-foot buffer of curb and stamped concrete lined with street lamps. The two-way cycle track will be 8.5 feet wide and the raised sidewalk will stretch another 6 feet.
Work on the cycle track is expected to be completed by summer 2019.
