The City of Bentonville will reconnect the Razorback Greenway between Bentonville and Bella Vista after more than three years through a grant-funded construction project, officials announced Tuesday.
The Bentonville City Council voted Aug. 26 to accept a grant of up to $3,538,831 for the construction of two new bridges and a rerouted section of the Razorback Greenway. The grant, provided by the Walton Family Foundation on the recommendation of Tom Walton and Steuart Walton, aims to restore safe connectivity for thousands of cyclists, pedestrians, and other greenway users.
The connection was severed in April 2022, when severe flooding damaged the Red Iron Bridge over Little Sugar Creek and eroded sections of the trail. That forced the closure of the segment. In the interim, users relied on a temporary protected shoulder lane on Highway 71, provided by the Arkansas Department of Transportation, or long detours.
Tom Walton, a member of the Walton Family Foundation, underscored the personal and community impact of the closure: “My family and I use these trails regularly – we’ve seen firsthand how this closure has impacted our neighbors and visitors,” he said. “When we learned about the challenges facing this project, we knew we wanted to be part of the solution. Investing in infrastructure that connects our communities and keeps people safe is exactly the kind of impact we want to make in Northwest Arkansas.”
Bentonville’s Parks and Recreation Department will oversee construction, anticipated to begin in October 2025 with completion expected by October 2026.
David Wright, director of Bentonville Parks and Recreation, highlighted the importance of the restoration. “These closures have impacted hundreds of daily users who depend on the Razorback Greenway for commuting, exercise, and connecting our communities for over three years,” he said. “This grant will not only restore that vital link but will provide more resilient infrastructure designed to withstand future weather events. We look forward to welcoming cyclists and pedestrians back to a safe, continuous route between Bentonville and Bella Vista.”
The two bridges will replace infrastructure repeatedly damaged by flooding and erosion along Little Sugar Creek. The rerouted section will include flood-resilient design features, restoring full connectivity to the 40-mile trail that serves both recreational users and daily commuters.
The Razorback Greenway, stretching from Fayetteville to Bella Vista, is recognized as one of the premier urban trail systems in the United States and a model for active-transportation infrastructure nationwide.
This article was originally published on ArkansasOutside.com, your trusted source for outdoor news and updates in The Natural State. Unless otherwise credited, all photos included in this piece are the property of Arkansas Outside, LLC. We take pride in sharing the beauty and adventures of Arkansas through our lens—thank you for supporting our work!
One Response
It’s amazing how business leaders (benefactors of a publicly held company) in NW Arkansas are thoughtful, progressive and show a dedication to their community while a single business leader with headquarters on Cantrell road in Little Rock, the Arkansas capitol has demonstrated just the opposite for over 15 years and managed to single handedly block a community design to close the loop