Little Rock

Trip to Little Rock

By: Sam Harshman

The Wife and I went to Little Rock/North Little Rock this past weekend (3/8/13-3/11/13.)  The point of the trip was to meet with Little Rocks Bicycle/Pedestrian Director, Jeremy Lewno.  We met at his bike center, Bobby’s Bike Hike, to talk about my thesis project.  I came to the meeting with questions and concerns that I had come up with through my research.  Mr. Lewno answered all of my questions and even brought up more questions.  The major questions answered were about the site that I have chosen.  The site that I have chosen runs through the property of the national headquarters of Dillards and also through the property of an Episcopal school.  The project at hand is actually funded at the moment, but the issue is that Dillards and the Episcopal school don’t want to give up their land.  They don’t see the value in having a bike trail run near their property’s, they also think that the trail would bring “unsightly” people to the area.  Part of my thesis now is to try to persuade the people at Dillards and the Episcopal school, that the bike trail will not bring what they think it will, but does the opposite and bring more customers/ allow students to get to school without driving and other related things.  On top of this, Mr. Lewno taught me that if you build the transportation first, then you can develop the rest: commuter station, more bike shops, and parks.  Next to the persuading, my thesis has also become a phasing plan.

1. Connect the housing communities with the bike trail.

2. Develop a specific trail to finish the loop.

3. Develop a central commuter station in Little Rock.

4. Plan out riverside parks along the new section of bike trail (phase 2)

5. Redevelop a warehouse into a boardwalk with a bike center along the new section of trail.