Little Rock city board approves project to renovate Two Rivers Park bike trail

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Little Rock City Board of Directors approved a more than quarter-million-dollar project on Tuesday that will renovate the bike trail in Two Rivers Park.

Right now at the Two Rivers bike trail in Little Rock, growing pine tree roots are causing the trail to crack, something that cyclist Van Reid said can be dangerous.

“You hit one of those bumps and it could throw you into your partners that are riding,” Reid said.

A section of the trail will soon be smoothed over as Little Rock has approved the more than quarter-million-dollar project that Parks and Recreation Director Leland Couch said started with a $75,000 federal grant.

“We were able to match that with over $200,000 of bond funding,” Couch said. “So we have a total project of $275,000.”

Couch said maintaining the trails is important, but the funding just isn’t there.

“These are projects that I would like to say would just be typical and that we would be doing just as a maintenance type thing all of the time, we’re challenged a little bit with our funding,” Couch said.

The trail is a part of the Arkansas River Trail and is more than 40 miles long.

Couch said the length of the trail slated to be resurfaced in Two Rivers Park is about a mile and a half long. A distance that cyclists like Reid will both see and feel.

“I’m very happy.  I want to encourage bike tours,” Reid said. “I want people to be comfortable when they come here and have fun. Not have to worry about bumps and surprises.”

Couch estimated that this project should be completed around the end of November.

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