FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The city of Fayetteville plans to add new trails along Mission Boulevard to connect to the Razorback Greenway.

The new project is called Mission Razorback Connector where Matt Mihalevich says it will bring several streets together to create more trails to provide a safer route for residents that live in east Fayetteville.

However, business owner Jennifer Morris who owns The Gift House Antiques along Mission Boulevard says the new trail will cut right through her parking lot and possibly affect her business.

“I’m not against bike trails, but there are so many alternatives that we could do this without closing a small business of 30 years,” Morris said.

Mihalevich says implementing the new trails is necessary for all ages to feel safe while walking or cycling on the side of the highway.

“Most people know Mission’s a very heavily trafficked highway. It’s Highway 35, and so we want to take the opportunity to build a separated trail along the road. So, it’s separated from the traffic,” Mihalevich said.

Mihalevich says in the Mission Razorback Connector project the sidewalk in front of the Gift House will be widened by eight feet. Morris says it will impact her driveway.

“The whole charm of this store is that so many people come here and say ‘Oh my gosh, this is so great. We can pull up to the front door. We can run in here, and we can get what we want. It’s wrapped, and we’re gone,'” Morris said.

Mihalevich says the trails are here to make life easier for residents to have a safe way to travel, not to negatively affect any businesses along the way.

“We don’t want to impact negatively businesses we hope it would actually bring a positive to the trail, and so that’s our goal while creating a really important connection for bicycles and pedestrians’ active transportation for the east side of Fayetteville,” Mihalevich said.