The rapidly growing city of Bentonville (population 56,000) in Northwest Arkansas has established a reputation as a world-class mountain biking destination and a key stop along the northern portion of the Razorback Regional Greenway — as well as being home to the corporate headquarters of Walmart. 

Toole Design recently led final design for a network of bikeways in Bentonville that had its origins in proposed corridor designs developed for communities in the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. Targeted Bicycle Network Strategies were created for Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers, and Fayetteville, and the Bentonville report helped to establish a priority bikeway network in the Connecting Bentonville Plan.

Our designs introduced the City’s first-ever on-street bike lanes and provided critical connections between residential areas and key destinations such as Downtown, Applegate Trail, and Coler Mountain Bike Preserve. One corridor was repurposed from 3 lanes of vehicle traffic to 2, while another corridor underwent a more dramatic shift from 5 lanes down to 2 (with on-street parking). Notably, both were repurposing projects, achieving major impacts through only minor curb modifications.

Toole Design’s Raleigh Office Director Jared Draper, AICP visited Bentonville this fall for the final inspection. Take a look at some of Jared’s photos from the visit to see how Bentonville is making big changes on the ground. 

NW 3rd Street sidewalks widen at the intersection with Walton Boulevard, and the sidepath transitions to a two-way on-street protected bikeway.
Man bicycling toward camera on 2 way bike lane on a suburban road.
People using the two-way protected bike lane on NW 3rd Street, which used to be a three-lane road.
The NW 3rd Street and J Street NW intersection features marked crosswalks, green bikeway markings, and bollards to encourage drivers to make a slow and tight turn.
At NW 3rd Street and O Street NW, the bikeway transitions from a two-way protected lane to conventional bike lanes (eastbound lane maintains raised buffer).
NW 3rd Street and Coachlight Drive intersection features a marked crosswalk and curb radius reduction to slow motor vehicles and shorten pedestrian crossing distance. Green bikeway markings highlight the potential presence of people on bikes.
NW 3rd Street bikeway transitions onto one-way sidepaths to access the Coler Mountain Bike Park entrance and trail system.
Man rides bike around corner on 2 way bike lane
Beginning of a two-way protected bikeway on SW 8th Street, which used to be a five-lane road.
Woman bicycling with children in the back of her cargo bike along a 2 way bike lane on a suburban road
Family enjoying the protected bikeway on SW 8th Street.
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