Horseback riders want an underpass so they can safely cross Scenic Arkansas 7 on the Old River Trail in Newton County.
Either that or they want a horse trail under a proposed bridge over the Buffalo River at Pruitt.
The riders are concerned about the new bridge that's to be built east of an 85-year-old bridge that's to be torn down. The eastern location is preferred by the Buffalo National River, which owns the land.
If the new bridge is constructed west of the existing one, there will be enough room underneath for a horse trail, said Mary Pearson, an environmental analyst with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
"We will look at options for it to go underneath the bridge if it's built to the east," she said. "Until we have geotechnical information we don't know all the structural details."
Elaine Appel of Gaither, president of the Buffalo River Back Country Horsemen, said it's dangerous to cross the highway on horseback now.
"There have been several close calls that we've experienced," she said. "There hasn't been one time that I didn't feel a sense of relief after getting across."
Pearson said she doesn't know the cost of building an underpass north of the bridge.
Pearson said the new bridge will make it safer for equestrians to cross on the Old River Trail because visibility down the highway will be increased.
"When you reduce the curve, you'll be able to see further up that road," she said.
The speed limit could be kept at 35 mph at the horse crossing just north of the bridge, said Pearson. Rumors that the speed limit would be increased to 55 aren't true, she said.
But dodging traffic on Arkansas 7 is always a stressful experience, said Appel.
"The whole thing is kind of dangerous," she said. "We would like to stay off the highway if possible."
Appel moved to the area from Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2011 because of the horse trails in the Buffalo National River area. Other equestrians moved there for the same reason, she said.
A public meeting on the proposed bridge was held April 21 in Jasper. The public-comment period for the project ended June 6, and the Highway Department received several comments from equestrians about a passageway under Arkansas 7.
The state Highway and Transportation Department hopes to award a contract for construction of the bridge by August 2017, said Steve Lawrence, district engineer for the Highway Department's office near Harrison. Construction could take a couple of years.
Lawrence said he doesn't recall ever getting a request before for an underpass that would accommodate horses. He's been with the Highway Department since 1987.
The two-lane bridge over the river at Pruitt that's to be demolished is only 20 feet wide, providing little room for error when two tractor-trailers meet, said Lawrence.
The Highway Department is planning a bridge that will be 45 feet wide and include a 5-foot-wide sidewalk on one side, protected from the traffic lane by a barrier. Instead of 10-foot-wide traffic lanes, the new bridge will have 12-foot lanes with 8-foot shoulders.
There are four locations under consideration for the new bridge. Three are west of the existing bridge and one is east of it. The eastern site would have the shortest and lowest bridge, said Pearson.
The work is expected to cost between $7.9 million and $9.8 million, depending on the route and the number of buildings to be removed.
The Pruitt bridge is 72 miles north of Russellville on Arkansas 7. It's a steel-truss design built in 1931 by Fred Luttjohann of Topeka, Kan., who constructed several bridges in Arkansas.
Pearson said the bridge construction will reroute part of the Old River Trail. Equestrians are concerned that they'll have to share part of Newton County Road 472 with vehicles, but Pearson said that's not known at this point.
The Old River Trail is designated for use by horses and hikers.
"Our horse trail goes all the way from Ponca to past Gilbert," said Peggy Thompson, who's also involved with the Back Country Horsemen. That's 51 miles as the crow flies, but Thompson said it's more than 100 miles on horseback, with all the twists and turns in the trail.
"Most of us do day rides of 10 to 20 miles," she said. "We cross the river probably six or seven times before we get to Erbie. Most of the horse trail is old roads that have been kept open."
Equestrians say the proposed underpass could be built for pedestrians. Riders can dismount and walk their horses through the tunnel.
The existing and proposed bridges are on a state highway running through land owned by the National Park Service.
"This is like a perfect storm of complications," Pearson said. "You couldn't pick a more complicated area than Pruitt. There are so many conflicting interests. Whatever you do, somebody's not going to like it."
Kevin Cheri, superintendent of the Buffalo National River, said the park service prefers the eastern alternative for the new bridge site because it would have less impact on natural resources than the western routes.
Cheri said building an underpass could be expensive, and he doesn't know who would pay for that. Cheri said it wouldn't be a priority for him because he has more urgent financial concerns in the park.
Jacque Alexander of Snowball and Little Rock, one of two Arkansas directors of Back Country Horsemen of America, said Mark DePoy, a resource management director of the Buffalo National River, asked the riders about a tunnel under Arkansas 7 years ago. But DePoy is no longer with the park, and Highway Department employees seemed blindsided by the horse-trail requests when they were raised at the public meeting in April, she said.
"Honestly, it looks to me like this issue fell through the cracks and they just didn't pay attention to it," Alexander said. "They've got to keep that in mind that there's a horse trail that has to be accommodated in a safe manner."
Metro on 06/19/2016