BELLA VISTA (KFSM) -- The City of Bella Vista has launched a pilot program that will test the incorporation of cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles on city streets.
Volunteers spent Friday morning (Oct. 28) at Lake Bella Vista helping with what will be a month-long protected bike lane demonstration.
"What it does is better separates cars from cyclists," said Paxton Roberts, executive director of Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks. "It gives the cyclists a safer way to navigate the streets."
The city wants to test out the idea before making the move of connecting roads around the Razorback Greenway with bike and pedestrian lanes.
Nancy Gilmore and Nancy Keesling were two of several people who turned out to volunteer.
They both call themselves avid cyclists.
"We do the Razorback Greenway, and because we live in Bella Vista, we come here, we park," said Gilmore, referencing Lake Bella Vista. "This is usually a great starting spot. That's one of the reasons we like to see the improvement."
Gilmore and Keesling chalked parts of the street to create lane markers.
Keesling said she hopes this demonstration will lead to permanent improvements.
"It gives us an opportunity to get out and see areas of the community that we don't see when we go back into the woods," Keesling said. "Even along the trails."
The demonstration will be up through he month of November.
Paxton said during that time, the city hopes to get feedback from users, with the back of trail signs providing information on how to submit feedback.
"It's a way for us to test different facility types, get feedback from the public and elected officials to see what is going to be the best way to move forward in terms of new infrastructure," said Paxton.