Next 12 Months

The following page was written in response to a question within the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Community application:

G5. What specific bicycle-related improvements are planned in the next 12 months that directly affect your community?

Please reach out to the City of Little Rock's Bicycle Friendly Community Committee by attending a monthly meeting or emailing the BFCC Chair with any feedback. The BFCC is tasked with advising the City about how to become more bicycle-friendly.  Please also reach out to the City of Little Rock Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator.

Master Transportation Plan: The City is in the process of selecting an outside consultant with national bicycle network planning expertise to make major revisions to our Master Bike Plan and remove any barriers in the Master Street Plan to its implementation. The consultant will be selected in February or March 2020 and the year-long process will begin in Spring 2020.

Bikeshare: A 2016 LAB BFC Key Step, we are contracted with a bikeshare provider (Gotcha) and will launch bikeshare in 2020 (Goal 3.1). The City has been working for years to bring a strong bikeshare program to our community; we are excited to have found such a strong partner and that our launch date is coming soon.  Bikeshare increases ridership, which increases per capita safety and offers a greater incentive to install our bicycle network.

Bike Parking: Another 2016 LAB BFC Key step (expand bicycle parking), we have worked with Gotcha to make their bikeshare stations all compatible with private bicycles, which will create ~25 bicycle parking stations in Phase 1 in our most walkable downtown area. These stations will be deliberately placed close to destinations and arrayed in an optimally spaced network (Goals 3.2 and 3.7).  More details here.

Bike Boulevard Demonstration:  In 2020, studioMAIN will do a small-scale Pop Up event to demonstrate different traffic calming measures to a section of Arch Street in 2020 which we hope will include a short bike boulevard demonstration (see also), especially valuable in the context of our Master Transportation Plan work.

Allsopp Park Trail: In 2020, the City will construct a trail in Allsopp Park from Hillcrest an existing trail to better connect Hillcrest to the Arkansas River Trail.

Arkansas River Trail @Medical Mile:  In 2020 (obligated by July 2021), the City will install a ramp from the Medical Mile to the UP Bridge, creating a continuous, shared use trail corridor from the Clinton Presidential Bridge to Dillard's Headquarters.

Friendly Driver Program: Another 2016 LAB BFC Key Step (expand educational opportunities), we will continue to implement our Friendly Driver Program, continue to share it with other communities (including at the National Bike Summit 2020), and continue to work with other communities to start similar programs.

Bicycle Friendly Business Bootcamp:  The City's BikePed Coordinator helped MCE with their recent Bike Friendly Business application. The City, BACA, and the LRCVB have watched with interest the upcoming BF Business Bootcamps in Fayetteville and are discussing how we might duplicate the program.

Pinnacle Valley Bike Lanes:  A 2016 LAB BFC Key Step was to increase bicycle access to mountain bike trails. Pinnacle Valley Rd., just outside of the City of Little Rock limits but an important mountain biking destination for our residents, is currently being widened to accommodate bicycle lanes from County Farm Rd. to Pinnacle Mountain State Park. There a new off-street trail will continue the corridor through the State Park, then Pinnacle Valley Rd. will be widened between the state park and Arkansas Highway 300. With bicycle connectivity from the east via the Arkansas River Trail and bike lanes and from the west via the City’s new Taylor Loop Connection, this new construction will create a low-stress bicycle corridor from much of the City to Pinnacle Mountain State Park mountain bike trails.  This project should not be confused with the City of Little Rock's widening of a different portion of Pinnacle Valley to install bike lanes.

Sustainability Action Plan:  In April 2020, the City of Little Rock, via the Sustain Little Rock office, will release their Sustainability Action Plan.  This plan, the next iteration of the Road to 2020, will be informed with active transportation priorities through the Bike Friendly Community Committee (BFCC)'s adopted goals provided to the Sustainability Commission for this purpose.

LR Bike Ways:  In 2020, LR Bike Ways will gain functionality by adding bike parking, restroom, water filling, and fix-it station points to the map.  An update to the software will help us elicit the bike community's help in these efforts.

Arkansas River Trail @Two Rivers Park:  Pulaski County received $300K to reroute the Arkansas River Trail away from a restroom and vehicular access choke point, improving trail user safety.  This project may or may not be completed within 12 months.

Boyle Park Mountain Bike Trails:  The City received $200K to create new mountain bike trails at Boyle Park.  This project may or may not be completed within 12 months.

U.S. Bike Route:  As of February 2020, Arkansas has no US Bike Route, but work is underway to create a US Bike Route from West Memphis to Little Rock, taking advantage of the Big River Crossing (2016) over the Mississippi. This project may or may not be completed within 12 months.