Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

This is in regard to the Harvey Dowell (Washington County) Bridge replacement.

Recently Washington County replaced Tilly Willy bridge (on the West Fork of the White in Fayetteville) with a modern and much safer bridge. Unfortunately it's pretty difficult for boaters to access, especially solo boaters. The steep inclines prevent practical loading and unloading. Do we have any members involved in the planning process so that we could get a ramp or steps or something included in the proposal for the Harvey Dowell replacement?

Hfunk

hfunkhouser wrote:Do we have any members involved in the planning process so that we could get a ramp or steps or something included in the proposal for the Harvey Dowell replacement?

I'm guessing the lack of response to the very good question you asked can be interpreted as your answer: "Not Yet!"

If you have the time to start the ball rolling, sometimes it is suprising how much you can get into motion with a few phone calls, and possibly a meeting or two. I'll be honest, sometimes you run into brick walls, other times you'll find helpful folks that just didn't know there was an issue and are happy to work with you to make things better.

There's probably one person who has oversight over this particular project, or is viewed as the "sponsor". Could be the County Judge; more likely an individual working in the County Roads department. Some steps to follow:

1) Call Tom Burroughs, ACC Pres, also active with many government types in Washington County through his Search-and-Rescue and training efforts, get any wisdom or ideas he has time to share that might modify the suggestions which follow.

2) Make a call to the County Roads department and let them know you want to talk to someone about the project, they'll probably direct you to the right person.

3) Ask for a face-to-face meeting.

4) At the meeting, try to make points such as the following:

The public is already using this as an access point.

Rip-rap on a steep embankment would be a public safety hazard for that continued use.

We don't need a fancy boat ramp, just a set of stairs or a simple footpath that uses sb2 gravel instead of rip-rap.

A wide shoulder or place to park while unloading is also needed

And here's a big one: If they are concerned about costs, let them know the ACC might be able to come up with a small contribution towards the costs of the materials.

Good Luck! I hope you do have time to follow up, or can identify someone from your area to pursue this a little more.

P.S.- AG&F may also have funds for boater access issues, but they are generally interested only if the river sometimes supports fishing via small jon boats which do need a boat ramp. If that type of use ever happens on this river, even occassionally, that gives you another angle to pursue.

Great information. I believe the judge is the sponsor. Thanks, Cowper!

Shawn shrum the assistant road superintendent is the person you want to approach in the road department. He is really good at fixing problems or over seeing a fix.

His boss will have to be involved at some point I would imagine . But Shawn is the person to start with for sure.

After speaking with someone from the department I got a quick reply. Honestly it does not surprise me. Without directly quoting the individual I spoke with: Tilly Willy was intentionally designed without access as that was a requirement for the land owner to consent to providing right of way since the county does not own it. Understandable considering the deplorable condition the area around Tilly Willy was in. This is also what is being planned with the new bridge. So we'll actually be losing 2 access points in this process.
Any ideas?

I'm a little bit stumped by that answer. It leads me to questions like, doesn't the county already own a "right of way" for the existing road and bridge, and if yes, why does it need "permission" from the landowner and his blessing on the new design? If the county doesn't have a right of way, why are they spending public funds on a bridge that is on private land, which almost seems to imply the landowner could change his mind and close it in the future if people persist in dumping garbage or throwing trash out their windows? (I know of several bridges with limited or no parking, where locals throw bags of garbage off the bridge, so lack of access does not guarantee no future garbage.)

If you look at it one way, then I suppose if there was a problem with partying and garbage at this location, then it is a good thing the county cares and is trying to work with the landowner to address the issue. But boaters who didn't cause the problem are sure being caught in the cross-fire.

I'll give my stump speech now and say this is a great example of why we should all take the time to pick up litter left by others at our river access points - it isn't enough to just not be part of the problem by not throwing down litter yourself.

I'll send you a PM with one or two more things to try before giving up on this one.

(here comes the soap box)

Its too bad that the almost uncontrolable illegal dumping, littering, and other issues associated with Tilley willy have resulted in a landowner wanting to prevent most of all of that scenario with the advent of the new bridge.

I can understand. If I had dealt with it for 40 yrs+ I might feel just like the landowner.

I am proud to say that several acc members and other boaters, like Howard for example, have come to the annual west fork cleanup over the past 6 yrs of which Tilly willy was a frequent big trash score.

I am certain that Howard and a few others have cleaned something from the river on almost every trip also.

Too bad again, that our efforts couldn't head this off.

Really important for all of us, ALL OF US, to take time, extra time - to participate in creek/ acess cleanups and to clean up on our regular trips and to get others involved in keeping our access points and streams clean so that we don't lose any more access points in the future.

Thanks again to both you guys for all that you both do and for the others that you both inspire.

Mimicry is pretty catchy. That's why we have to show others how to be stewards of the resource that we love. Set the example for others, take matters into your hands. Thanks again to you two guys for what you do. And thanks to all of the others out there that do more than your part.

Soap box back to closet.

(sound of cheering and clapping in background, as speaker retires from the stage...)