Editor’s Note: We decided to write this story after receiving an email from Eve Isbell. Eve contacted us to find direction on how her husband, Gary, could become involved with improving handicap accessibility in Bentonville. We suggested they look into the newly formed Active Transportation Committee but also saw value in sharing his experience with our audience. 

Gary and Eve Isbell love the perks of living in downtown Bentonville. When they moved to the city in 2019, the couple purchased a lot and built their home about a half mile from the Square. 

They appreciate its proximity to restaurants, shopping and recreation, allowing them to get around often without the need for a car.

For Gary, however, navigating downtown sidewalks can be a perilous challenge. After a farming accident at age 18, Gary, now 76, has lived as a double amputee for the majority of his life and uses a wheelchair. While adept at traversing in his manual wheelchair, the city’s aging and damaged sidewalks, lack of sidewalks in certain areas, and ongoing construction make getting around more difficult.

“This is an old town, and some of the infrastructures are old,” he said. “So if you try to do things like go down Main Street … you just can’t believe the sidewalks are in that kind of condition, that kind of shape. They’re virtually unusable for me.”

Building A Home Downtown

The Isbells moved to Bentonville after 35 years in Mountain Home to be closer to family. Three of their five grown children live in Bentonville, along with eight of their 10 grandchildren. 

They chose a lot in a flat area of town, and Eve designed their home herself with customized accessibility features. They moved into the home in 2021.

One of the main reasons the Isbells chose their downtown location was to stay active, and so Gary could get around without a car since he no longer drives. They frequent area restaurants and shops, and in warmer months, they enjoy the farmers market. 

“I knew that he would keep moving — I didn’t want him to get confined to the house,” Eve said, adding that Gary was always very active, never slowing down during his long career as a prosecutor and circuit judge, or raising their five kids. 

While downtown Bentonville is growing at a rapid pace, there are many areas where the infrastructure has yet to be updated. The sidewalks are old and deteriorating, Gary said, and tree roots growing under the sidewalks push up the concrete and break it. 

All of these issues make it difficult for Gary to get around. Sometimes, the sidewalks are completely unusable, and sometimes, they don’t exist.

“I was used to seeing sidewalks either on both sides of the street, or at least available,” Gary said of the places he’s lived and worked before Bentonville. “But there are places here where there are no sidewalks at all.” 

The Drawbacks of Progress

Construction projects are continually popping up all around the Isbells’ home. It’s a double-edged sword for Gary, as the progress brings about much-needed updates, but it comes with its own set of challenges. 

A positive aspect of the construction is that developers are adding sidewalks to some areas where one didn’t previously exist. However, ongoing construction projects sometimes close sidewalks altogether for months at a time, or newly installed sidewalks are not connected to existing ones, creating obstacles that make the new pathways unusable for Gary.

“That’s one of the drawbacks to being in a wheelchair, is that there’s no way that they can make any changes without there being a period of time in which you don’t have access,” he said.

Eve showed The Bentonville Bulletin a sidewalk on NW C and 5th Street that she said is one of the worst in the area. 

“(The structure) was built substantially above grade and then they added the curbing and the street was repaved to meet the curbing,” she said. “Currently, construction vehicles are parked on the street, which turns that section of the street into a one-lane passage area.”

In July, a road was re-tarred at the corner of 3rd and NW B streets, but a ridge was left between the sidewalk and the road. As Gary traversed across the street, his front tires hit the ridge and he was pitched out of his chair.

A passerby helped him back into his chair, although it was a struggle for them both. The Isbells believe one of the people who stopped to help contacted the city after the incident, and the ridge was smoothed out somewhat and cones were placed around the sidewalk.

With all of the sidewalk challenges, many times Gary uses the street, which can be dangerous with traffic.

“They’ve done such a great job, I feel like, of making it so diversified with everything that we have here, that we’re really kind of spoiled by all that,” Eve said. “That we’re so challenged with the wheelchair is disappointing right now.”