This webinar tells the story of how the Razorback Greenway was conceived, designed, funded, and implemented— a case study with multiple innovative and enabling solutions.
Presented by:
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November 05, 2015
10:30 AM to 12:00 AM (Pacific Time) {more time zones}
Cost (RECORDING):
FREE for membersNote:
Closed Captioning is available for this webinar.
Learning Credits are NOT available for this webinar.
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Northwest Arkansas is an emerging metropolitan area in the American Heartland with over a half-million inhabitants. It is the location of a major university; a national agricultural and food-processing center; the global headquarters of Walmart and home of the Walton Family Foundation. Six cities make up the 40-mile long corridor extending from Fayetteville on the south the Bentonville and Lake Bella Vista on the north.
In 2010, The Walton Family Foundation assembled a group of some of the nation’s most seasoned trail, greenway, and bicycle experts to look at green infrastructure in Northwest Arkansas and recommend how to optimize the livability of this region. The Walton’s posed the question of how to make this region a major attractor of the “best and brightest” to come here and stay. A leading recommendation was to create a major regional greenway running over 40 miles from one end of the urban corridor to the other. In 2011 work began implementing the Razorback Greenway. (Serendipitously, Fayetteville, led by Matt Mihalevich was well along in creating a portion of the greenway in that city.)
Key Learning Points
1. How to envision and build backing for a regional greenway
2. Effective funding through a public/private partnership (securing philanthropic and public match monies)
3. Strategic and catalytic project phasing
4. Building an effective organizational structure to manage multiple jurisdictions and partners to build the greenway quickly
5. Managing effective public process to address stakeholder concerns and build support and awareness
6. Effectively addressing complex design and planning challenges including application of NACTO tools such as on-street buffered “cycle-tracks”
7. Securing multiple rights-of-way along a 40-mile corridor including rail-with-trail
8. Addressing design challenges and aesthetics to create a world-class greenway with Innovative solutions and attractive components
9. Innovative engagement of city crews to build a greenway
10. Effectively leveraging the greenway to transform languishing urban places and garnering significant economic benefits
Jeff Olson, Co-Founder, re:Charge-e
Saratoga Springs, New York
Jeff Olson is an architect, entrepreneur, and author. He ran the White House Millennium Trails initiative, started the NYSDOT Bike / Pedestrian program, served on the UAlbany faculty, and was a principal with Alta Planning + Design. Jeff was part of the team that launched Citi Bike and the bike share movement with systems in DC, Boston, Chicago and other major cities. He is the current co-founder of re:Charge-e, developing wireless charging stations for electric micro mobility, and is the Author of The Third Mode: Towards a Green Society. He also rides his bikes a lot and is a PSIA ski instructor.
Chuck Flink, Owner, Greenways Inc.
Durham, NC
Chuck is an award winning author, planner and landscape architect who has completed work in 250 communities, in 37 states, and in 7 foreign countries. He is the recipient of four dozen national, regional and local awards. Some of his most notable projects include the Grand Forks Greenway Master Plan, North Dakota, Charleston County Greenbelt Program Master Plan, South Carolina, American Tobacco Trail Master Plan, North Carolina; the Miami River Greenway Master Plan, Florida; and the Grand Canyon Greenway, Arizona. Chuck is a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects, and coauthor of Greenways. A Guide to Planning, Design and Development, and Trails for the Twenty First Century. His most recent book is entitled “The Greenway Imperative: Connecting Communities and Landscapes for A Sustainable Future” (University Press of Florida)
Matt Mihalevich, Trails Coordinator, City of Fayetteville, Arkansas
Matt Mihalevich is a professional landscape architect and has been the Trails Coordinator for the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas over the past eleven years. Matt is responsible for all aspects of the development of the trail system including; planning, funding, design, property acquisition, construction management, maintenance and public encouragement.
Most recently, Matt has been involved in the development of the 37 mile long Razorback Regional Greenway which now connects Northwest Arkansas from south Fayetteville to north Bentonville. Fayetteville boasts an expansive and much adored trail system with over 40 miles of shared-use paved trails.
In addition to work in Fayetteville, Matt also serves as the Chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Active Transportation Committee and assists with the ongoing development of trails and bikeways throughout the region.
Robert (Bob) Searns, Owner, Robert Searns and Associates, Inc.
Denver, Colorado
Robert Searns has a four-decade history of visualizing, planning, and getting trails and greenway projects built. He was Project Director of Denver’s Platte River and Mary Carter Greenways—both national-award-wining projects. He helped plan the Grand Canyon National Park Greenway, played a key role on the Memphis Wolf River Greenway, and authored the Commerce City, CO Walk, Bike, Fit plan. He has written for Planning, Landscape Architecture, LA China, and American Trails Magazines and has served as Editor-in-Chief of Trails and Beyond Magazine. He chaired American Trails and was a founder of The World Trails Network as well as being a delegate to the America’s Great Outdoors White House conclave. His current book is Beyond Greenways: The Next Step For City Trails and Walking Routes, published in 2023 by Island Press. He resides, writes, hikes, and bikes near Denver, Colorado.
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