In 2005, Mayor Dan Coody and City Council created an 8 member in-house trails construction crew as part of the Transportation Division and allocated funds to purchase equipment to exclusively build trails and implement the Alternative Transportation and Trails Master Plan. In addition the Trails Coordinator position was incorporated into the Engineering Division to provide in-house trail design, right-of-way acquisition and construction observation. Since the reorganization, the rate of trail construction has increased dramatically and by using City staff for design and construction, the trails are constructed with the most efficient use of tax payer funds.

In September of 2006 the trails program received a significant boost when voters approved a 2.1 million dollar bond issue exclusively for trails. This bond money will be used for the City’s highest priority trail, Scull Creek Trail. This trail is the most important trail for the City of Fayetteville because of its central location and connectivity with many businesses, parks and neighborhoods. In its entirety, Scull Creek Trail will be 4 miles in length – connecting from Mud Creek Trail and following Scull Creek south to Wilson Park. From Wilson Park, Scull Creek Trail will become Frisco Trail and continue .6 miles south along the Arkansas-Missouri Railroad across Dickson Street to the Walton Arts Center parking lot where it will meet up with the new section of Frisco Trial dedicated on August 24th 2006. Because of the strong north-south connectivity, Scull Creek Trail and Frisco Trail will create the backbone for the city-wide trail network while connecting residences, parks and businesses with the University of Arkansas and Dickson Street. Numerous other trails, including Clabber Creek Trail and Town Branch Creek Trail will extend east and west from this backbone to create an interconnected network of trails. The first 3⁄4 mile section of Scull Creek Trail, was completed by the trails construction crew in December of 2006, and we are currently working on an additional 1 mile section.

In addition to Scull Creek Trail, many other trails have been completed through in-house. The trails program including the following:

• St. Paul Trail 0.78 miles

• Frisco Trail Extension 0.2 miles

• Scull Creek Trail 0.7 miles

• Shiloh Trail 0.8 miles

• Town Branch Creek Trail 0.4 miles

• Clabber Creek Trail 0.7 miles

• Lake Fayetteville Trail 1.2 miles

For a total of 4.78 miles .