Regional River Park looks to draw cycling tourists into West Memphis

Regional River Park looks to draw cycling tourists into West Memphis

City looking at options for creating interest on this side of the river

news@theeveningtimes.com

With the new Delta Regional River Park development finished officials began seeking an inroad for cyclists into West Memphis. Paul Luker proclaimed the looping trail from the Big River Crossing north to the Hernando DeSoto Bridge and back “finished” at the November round of Metropolitan Planning Organization meetings.

Cycling tourists move through an area slower, stay longer and spend more money than other kinds of tourists, Luker explained.

Hopes were expressed on behalf of the city’s Advertising and Promotion Commission and the Main Street West Memphis District for building cycling tourism visits in the city, capturing taxes from retail sales, restaurant meals and hotel stays in West Memphis.

West Memphis City Councilwoman Ramona Taylor asked for a bike route to bring two-wheeled tourists into the city.

“We’ve invested quite a bit of money into the Big River Crossing and the Delta River Regional Park, doing the Main-to-Main project.” said Taylor. “Now we need to figure out the best way to make it possible for cyclists and pedestrians to do that.’ The goal of Main-to-Main was to connect Broadway’s Main Street District in West Memphis to South Main Street in Memphis. With the Big River Crossing celebrating its first anniversary with nearly 250,000 visitors the first year, and the river park complete on the Arkansas side, Taylor was looking for the next leg to complete the link in to the Main Street historic and development on Broadway in West Memphis.

“It will be finished up this week according to the contractors” Luker told the MPO on Nov. 14. “We are trying to tie into the service road and the parking section where the three bridges come together and the county road (Dacus Lake Road) runs underneath. We had to stop there to let the railroad finish their construction project and get their big cranes out of there. Then we will get the inspection done on the (park) project.”

Way finding signs, benches carved from old Harahan bridge foundation stones, porta-potties and a side spur to the river just north of the BRX were part of trail enhancements added to the initial river park trail project.

“West Memphis Advertising and Promotions and Main Street West Memphis had questions about how we are going to move cyclists and pedestrians from the Big River trailhead and the park through West Memphis and into other areas,” said Taylor. “I talked to MPO Study Director Eddie Brawley and City Planner Paul Luker about holding public hearings about the best way people through those areas and into West Memphis.”

We had talked about designating Polk and Thompson with bike pedestrian markings or looking into a better way of doing that.”

I think we could look at it,” replied Brawley.

The issue is the width of the road and adding a three foot lane for cyclists.

“From 14th Street back, there is just no way without taking out a left turn lane, and I don’t think any of the businesses would want that,” said Brawley. “From 14th Street to Missouri, you have problems with people parking on the streets.”

However, Broadway has already been designated as a bike route as part of another trail, The Mississippi River Trail. Luker thought signs and road markers reminding motorists to share the road with cyclists would meet the need.

“There may be a possibility ArDOT would agree to let us throw out some ‘sharrows’ pavement markings showing that it is a bike route,” said Luker. “But I’d also agree it is not the safest to move bikes through.”

Luker pointed to a map with options that had bikeways along bayous in the city.

“That would be a safer way to come through the city in its present state,” said Luker.

The bayou trails constructed in the Ferguson administration have fallen into disrepair and would require an overhaul to revive and don’t keep money spending cyclists in retail zones.

“I love the bayou trail, we talked about fixing that up,” said Taylor. “It would require extensive money.”

Looking ahead the city planner pointed out the South Loop route skirting with a road expansion on the drawing board.

“Once the South Loop is completed, we could tie it into College Boulevard or Waverly Road,” said Luker. That’s somewhere in the future, we are not there right now.”

The conversation shifted back to the established retail area and practical concerns for driving business into the Main Street District and the A& P tourism tax coffers.

“Markings and alternate routes are a quicker return for much fewer dollars,” said Taylor.

No public hearing dates were announced.

By John Rech