Arkansas Blog

Do you seriously think Stodola will stop practicing law long enough to actually do his part time job of leading our city and do what is in the best long term interest of the residents?

He wants to raise your taxes and spoil your water so I doubt he has time to squeeze anything else in right now.

Max, are you saying that you want the River Trail to run through the campus of an elementary school?

If so, did it ever occur to you that maybe we don't want anybody and everybody wandering through an elementary school, especially with all the predators out there? If that 's not what you mean, then nevermind. But if it is, consider that thought.

Running the trail behind the current school would be wonderful and also make them kick in some money to build an overpass over the train tracks so we could connect with the rest of the trail. The current configuration of the trail through that area is bad and what is so sad is that you realize when you come back to the sidewalk on the Cross Street bridge that the Medical Mile ends right under you.

You aren't saying that Epsicopal should have to kick in for the bike trail access/project, but only give access behind the school and on the perimeter, beyond the fence line right cirrect? Certainly they are under no obligation to do so, nor should they contribute fiinancially. As to access, well, you imply they didn't grant access earlier, though no reason is presented, which may or may not be known. Then that raises the question of why did they not give access in the earlier phase of developing the school? Perhaps they have good reason. Perhaps not. Perhaps somewhere in the middle. Still some critical unknowns.

This could turn into a thinly veiled class issue: The protected, cozy environment of a perceived "rich kids" school vs. the needs of the city/recreationists etc. That's the implied issue. It wil be easy to villify the school for what seems on
the surface a fair and not too onerous request by the cyclist contingent. But things are seldom as black and white as they appear to be and I'll bet there is some solid if not ironclad and insurmountable justification as to why Episcopal does not want the trail to meander around the campus.

Alas, and thankfully in this bloggers opinion, this is one of those rare moments at the intersection of Southern politics and modern day culture where some one or other won't enter in to the debate with the "What would Jesus do? card.

Thankfully, he walked everywhere.

Anon,

The school has a drainage ditch and past that a railroad that hems it in on the west and south. The River Trail could be easily squeezed in between the school fence and the ditch. For the school to utilize any land past where their fence is would be very expensive fill and yield virtualy no area. That is probably why they placed the fence where they did.

The current fence along the back of the school property keeps out bum/predators now. I would expect less vagrants up to no good in the area when a parade of bicyclers, rollerbladers, runners come through with no warning. More eyes to see what the lawless are up too would discourage them.

From the people that I know with children in the school I get the impression it is a fine school. True as AT pointed out, high quality private schools would draw away the cream of the crop of students in the district but this is a free country and people are not forced to send their children to public schools. Private schools and home schooling is legal.

If the school is wanting some kind of variance then now would be the time to use a carrot to get an easement for the trail.

1969,

When Dillard's and the Cathedral School were being developed, the River Trail was more a wish than a reality. Many thought it a silly pipe dream at that point. Who would have believed that there would be a 12 million dollar bridge built over the dam?

The trail had more gaps than sections and I believe the school resisted the trail because of fear of vagrants. I do not have ANY evidence of this but it was my impression and I could definately understand it.

The land for the school was from the old abandoned Wrape Stave Mill and had been a hobo camp for decades. There was a whole city in there nearly permanent housing. There was even a pond in there for washing and fishing.

Now that the trail has proven to be for real and the county and both LR and NLR plus the US gov't and private citizens have invested 10's of millions on it we owe it to ourselves not to let this opportunity to slip through our fingers again.

I think what some that have posted comments have missed is that the current "River Trail" follows North Street. If the school expands across North Street, what happens to the trail? I've linked an aerial view of the trail along North Street. Click on the link (my name?) to see exactly how the trail, which you can see in the pic, would be affected by the school crossing North Street.

As I run the River Trail quite often, I am affected by any change. What I don't understand is why the "River Trail" doesn't stay on the north side of Cantrell. While North Little Rock had it easier to construct a "River Trail" as there was less development on the river, is there not a way for the City of Little Rock to negotiate with the landowners along the riverfront to construct a path?

The only landowners from what I can see in aerial shots would be a (is that what that is) marina and Dillards. At the east end of the Dillards property, there is a railroad bridge where (I believe) a current path ends. That path is not used much as it dead ends there. Is there no way to connect the area from the railroad bridge to the existing path at the Cantrell railroad viaduct?

Arky

Arky:

It's a great world isn't it. Information--relevant and timely--even aerial shots from space--at the click of a persons name. I love it. It's great. These kids growing up today have knowledge, ar at least information, at warp speed when and where they need it. Will change the world. But much faster.

Arky,

On the north side of Cantrell, in front of Dillard's there is not sufficient room without MAJOR retaining walls because the slope is to great and parking lots are too close to the street. Plus Dillard's has many expensive large trees Dillard's brought in which are now well established.

Dillard's is slammed right up on the edge of the bluff at the back of their property so the trail can't go between Dillard's and the railroad without a cost prohibitive cantalevered deck for a trail there. The story is the same for between the river and the train tracks.

The only way to connect the existing trail from near Cajuns Wharf to the downtown "Medical Mile" portion is to stay south of Cantrell. The sidewalk beside Cantrell is not a good route. The best is to go between the Cathedral School and the rail road tracks.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GET AN EASEMENT!! If the school wants a consession or variance now is our chance.

Thursday night Mayor Stodola will be speaking at the Oyster Bar at 7pm to a BACA meeting. Everyone is welcome (and encouraged) to attend.

BACA is a bicycle advocacy group that has been very active with the River Trail design and construction.

I know we will be questioning and pressuring Stodaola for easement near the school and I personally will corner Stodola as he escapes to question him about Lake Maumelle.

Come on out tomorrow for good food and drink at the Oyster Bar and meet the mayor. 7pm.

Among other curmudgeonly attributes, I'm a fairly active cyclist in the community, and am a bicycling instructor certified by the League of American Bicyclists. So I have a mixed outlook on the Trail's current crossing at this point, and the Episcopal School's new proposal.

The problem with the River Trail crossing Cantrell/LaHarpe in front of the Episcopal School is a lot more than just an issue for "recreational" cyclists, because the trail and streets are used for much, much more than recreation. A significant number of people depend on bicycles as their main transportation to get to work, or otherwise get around town. Ever look behind the various restaurants and hotels around the River Market area and see all the bikes parked there? They belong to the employees who work in those businesses. The River Trail and adjoining/connected streets are an important means for them to get to work, or wherever else they have to go.

A second issue is that the closure of North Street with no other street access between the Junior Deputy Park area and the other side of the railroad tracks near Cross Street completely severs the River Trail, and blows a big honking gap into what has become a major attraction for the city and county. All the millions of dollars spent on the Big Dam Bridge? Think about it.

The third issue is compliance with state and local traffic codes. Arkansas law (A.C.A. Sec. 27-49-111) states that "Every person riding a bicycle ... shall have all the rights and all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except those provisions of this act which by their nature can have no applicability." As a cyclist, when you ride on the public roads and streets, you're subject to the same traffic laws as the operator of any other vehicle. John Forester (Effective Cycling, 1976) has distilled this down to what is referred to as the "vehicular cycling principle," "Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles."

Little Rock has a number of city ordinances which are more stringent for cyclists. First of all, Ordinance 32-487 reinforces the state law directing compliance with traffic signals and signs, to include things like stop signs, one-way streets and lanes, and "Do Not Enter" signs

Most of the complaints about local cyclists is that we ignore traffic law way too often. but then one of the most frequently-used bike paths has the City directing cyclists to violate some of the most basic safety principles. You should always ride on the right side of the road, never on the left against traffic. Wrong-way riding is probably the most-frequent cause of car-bike collisions and dead or maimed cyclists - accounting for 14% of all car-bike collisions, and you should never ride on the sidewalks. Cyclists ride on the road or street, where they're mostly safe from pedestrians (who account for a little more than 1% of bike accidents overall, but are still a signifcant concern when you're mixing bikes and pedestrians on the same shared-use paths).

It may sound like a small thing in order to have connection between the two ends of the Trail amid two non-cooperative landowners, but what we're doing here with the current work-around is reinforcing exactly the type of behavior that we need to be working against.

I oppose the Episcopal School proposal absent some sort of easement to rectify the current problems with the River Trail intersection, or maybe the use of eminent domain to bulldoze the south side of Cantrell and construct a section to extend the multi-use path from the Cantrell overpass up to Cross Street.

Same rant, but expanded and with pictures of the situation, on the jump: (http://bacar.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=257, in case the link thingie below doesn't work.)

For UP THE ROAD's sake, I hope his post doesn't encourage the pooolice to enforce the laws. No matter what Episcopal does, bike are still going to go the wrong way on Cross and get on the sidewalk to cross the railroad tracks. And as long as bikes and cars are held to the same laws, can cars go down Rebsamen side by side, and do most cyclists come to an actually stop at signs? I think a little leeway is needed by all.

I did see the Up The Road is definitely opposed to the Episcopal's proposal. What does it request specifically?

>>>>For UP THE ROAD's sake, I hope his post doesn't encourage the pooolice to enforce the laws. No matter what Episcopal does, bike are still going to go the wrong way on Cross and get on the sidewalk to cross the railroad tracks. And as long as bikes and cars are held to the same laws, can cars go down Rebsamen side by side, and do most cyclists come to an actually stop at signs? <<<<

I'm all for fair and equitable enforcement of the laws. It's what keeps us sort of a semi-civilized society. Bikes go the wrong way on Cross St., and use the sidewalks because that's what the current traffic control devices tell us to do.

Rebsamen is two lanes in each direction, so I see cars going down there side-by-side every day. Can they both fit in the same lane? Nope... but that's a basic difference between a car that's around 8 feet wide, a bike that's about 28 inches across the handlebars, and traffic lanes (10 feet wide) that are still built to 1936 standards when we were all running around in Model A Fords instead of Dodge Ram pickupsand Chevy Yukons.

As for stop signs, the "California stop" is every bit as common to motorists as it is to cyclists, if you watch 'em all for awhile.

As for the Episcopal folks, I think we ought to focus on bringing the schools we already have, public and private, up to standard before we go off diluting the market with new ones. Little Rock and central Arkansas are just a couple of more Ozone Action Days from being in noncompliance with the Clean Air Act, and the majority of that pollution comes from cars and trucks. Not to mention Mr. Huckabee's favorite topic, wherein a large number of us go around (or ought to go around) with a big "WIDE LOAD" sign plastered across our butts (me included). The more butts we can put on bikes, especially for the average short trips around town, the better air we can breathe, the less we'll hopefully pay for health care, and the better we'll feel. We need another damn school like we need another term for Mr. Bush & company.

Up The Road: "As for the Episcopal folks, I think we ought to focus on bringing the schools we already have, public and private, up to standard before we go off diluting the market with new ones........We need another damn school like we need another term for Mr. Bush & company."

So basically, you don't give a darn about the cycling, you just want to protect the status quo in the education system. Apparently your head lies beneath the sand like an ostrich and you don't realize that about 30% of the Little Rock parents with kids prefer either home school or private school.

You should continue working with the community to bring the schools "up to standard" while some of us other cyclists will try to figure out a way to complete the River Trail.

You never commented on your position on the EXACT variance requested by Episcopal, but from your above quote, I assume your are just basically anti private schools and the facts are not really that important.

CitizenHome,

Thank you for such a well drafted response and the link to the BACA website demonstrating the problems with the River Trail with photographs. I was well aware of the problems there from a runner's perspective but the biker's perspective showed me how much more of a problem that stretch is for you guys. Yikes!

You wrote:

"On the north side of Cantrell, in front of Dillard's there is not sufficient room without MAJOR retaining walls because the slope is to great and parking lots are too close to the street. Plus Dillard's has many expensive large trees Dillard's brought in which are now well established.

Dillard's is slammed right up on the edge of the bluff at the back of their property so the trail can't go between Dillard's and the railroad without a cost prohibitive cantalevered deck for a trail there. The story is the same for between the river and the train tracks."

I know Dillards is close to the river's edge. Can there not be a way to build "boardwalk/riverwalk" path extending out from the riverbank and following the river to the "marina"? If it could be done with the approximate same width (12 to 14 feet) as the Big Dam Bridge along the river, I think this would be a great solution. I'm probably day-dreaming as I do that often but I'm just throwing out an idea for consideration. I'm sure this idea would require approval from the US Army Corps of Engineers as it would extend over the river a few feet, but I'm just trying to think of a way to get the "River" Trail back to the river.

Arky

Oops!

CitizenHome, I quoted you correctly. I, however, thanked you for Up The Road's reply. Up The Road, thanks for the information and link to the BACA site.

Arky