Spotlight: Bentonville Moves aids city’s pedestrian master plan

Jessica Pearson and her family spend a lot of time on their bikes. That's at the root of the reason they moved to Northwest Arkansas.

"We were coming here for the outdoor recreation," she says. That "is what drew us to the area."

As the Coalition Project Manager for the citizen-led organization Bentonville Moves, Jessica Pearson is setting to work helping make the city of Bentonville a safer place to more easily go about the community on bikes. She was contracted with City Thread, a national organization that has living projects in 10 other cities across the U.S., including Austin and Providence, R.I.

Pearson spends many hours training as a gravel cyclist and mountain biker, in fact she was one of 10 cyclists selected to represent Women of OZ at its races, and her children commute to their school on their bicycles.

"Now that we've relocated to Northwest Arkansas, that was part of the decision," she says. "The accessibility to natural and gravel (paths and trails). I think about that as a parent and every time I train. On gravel and mountain bike, you control your risk more" than on the road.

She wishes that more families might be able to take the same opportunities for recreation, whether their hope is to gain better fitness and health, to have an activity to do together or simply to get themselves from point A to point B.

This is not the first time Pearson's been at work in the heart of a community adjusting to new pedestrian travel. Back in Springfield, where Pearson lived previously, she oversaw the development of 25 miles of natural surface trails on public property as executive director of Trailspring. Navigating a trail project along the city of Springfield's drinking source got her well acquainted with certain challenges, such as addressing environmental concerns and putting protections in place that were precedent setting.

Now they can continue their projects of professionally built trails on city property and Pearson has a new place, new project. The city of Bentonville adopted a bike and pedestrian master plan that involves a network of on-street infrastructure. Implementation of new infrastructure like that has been relatively slow in the past, so the coalition hopes to speed it up by providing extra support.

"I was invited to join the social committee of Bentonville Moves and through that engagement, I more seriously considered (bringing my) family here," she says. "It's an opportunity to directly involve making Bentonville the city I want it to be (in terms of ) mobility and active transportation. It was just a no-brainer for me."

An event at the Ledger in late April introduced the new organization to community members as a means to "develop transportation choices that are safe and comfortable for everyone." It grew the coalition's membership by 25 percent and joined the nonprofit organizations, businesses, bike advocates and people on bikes to each other and with a variety of new faces.

"At the gathering, there was an incredible energy," Pearson says. "We're really pleased with the turnout. The coalition is really ready to be engaged and have some projects to rally around."

Bentonville Moves focuses its initiatives for bike safety with education and bike advocacy. A few sub committees have begun to work on each area. Among its earliest successes was a "Bike to School" project that provided support for children new to biking to school with safe routes, bike trains that had adults riding along with the children and design resources, such as signage and promotional materials to get the community excited for it.

"That's an example of how it can partner with a community group, school district or organization to support activities that reinforce active transportation," she says.

Manager of the Bentonville Moves Coalition Jessica Pearson poses for a portrait, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 at The Ledger in Bentonville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)

Initially, Pearson moved her family to Fayetteville so they could make use of a street that's more developed for commuting by bike, but she got more hooked in to the Bentonville Moves cause through a Women of OZ connection, who explained that Walmart and the city of Bentonville want to work together to make the workforce more mobile there.

In developing what Pearson calls mobility networks, Bentonville Moves will identify areas to create shared roads through a variety of ways, including some measures that Northwest Arkansans are already familiar with, like the protected lanes in parts of our towns.

"We will work with the community in those areas to determine which level of implementation is most appropriate for those projects," she says. "To engage (them), we will host events there to encourage feedback, rather than (having them) arrive to see it as it is."

That way, Pearson says, even non-coalition members will stay informed of the changes to their roadways, stay aware and feel like they've had the opportunity to give some input.

Members of the coalition have a variety of engagement levels to choose from. At it's lowest commitment of least engagement is simply receiving the organization's newsletter so that you stay aware of upcoming events and be in on the conversation. Those looking to be more involved can join any of the Bentonville Moves' sub committees, which meet monthly and are focused on the practical tasks of the groups' iniatives. Then a leadership and activation group supports all the committees' efforts.

Bentonville Moves is looking to extend its membership beyond cyclists, hoping to illuminate the benefits of having bike-friendly transportation channels in the area to those who primarily drive on their commutes.

"These projects benefit motorists as well," Pearson says. "Everyone has peace on the road when everyone has a piece of the road. These (projects) will eliminate frustration and how to share the road.

"So many visitors into town are not familiar with those interactions and norms," she says. "Recreational users exacerbate the need for clear pathways, to have crossings defined as people also using roadways navigate from recreational opportunities."

Bentonville Moves has already identified the areas they'd like to improve, now it's a matter of deciding when and how they'll do it. And although the first public meeting was a general one, the remainder of events will be directly tied to the areas where the coalition's projects will occur.

"Different areas have different traffic flow," Pearson says. "It's important that we truly understand what is going to serve that community best before implementation."

Source link: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/02/spotlight-bentonville-moves-aids-citys-pedestrian/