The city of Richmond on Wednesday began construction on the first section of the Fall Line Trail, the 43-mile, car-free multi-use path that winds from Petersburg in the north to Ashland.
Virginia’s capital now joins Henrico and Hanover counties and the city of Ashland, which have already begun construction on sections of the trail. Some of these sections, like Ashland’s, are already completed.
“We saw Henrico already break ground, and we are following suit here in Richmond and Bryan Park,” said outgoing Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
Chesterfield County and the cities of Petersburg and Colonial Heights have not yet begun work on their portions of the trail, the Fall Line websiteOverall, Richmond’s section 13 miles.
Before a crowd of city and state officials, as well as the Central Virginia Transit Authority and Sports Backers, Stoney said efforts will be made to utilize existing bike lanes for the remainder of the route.
“Much of the trail will consist of new construction and improvements designed to make our streets more pleasant for families and tourists cycling or walking through our city,” he said. “Trails like this have also led to economic growth in cities like Indianapolis (and) Atlanta.”
But not everyone who watched the ceremony in sweltering temperatures and under the city’s heat warning was there to celebrate the extension of the trail.
Elizabeth Barrett is part of a newly formed group, Citizens for a Responsible Fall Line Trail, one of two groups opposing the trail’s chosen path through the park. The other is Friends of Bryan Park.
Barrett said the trail would “turn the park into a construction site.” It would also “damage tree roots and compact the soil, potentially even causing tree death. It’s too close to things like the playground where the kids run around or the soccer field.”
Barrett suggested the city repurpose existing trails that already run through the park, adding that the city has not done much in terms of public outreach.
Dironna Clarke of Richmond’s Department of Public Works, specifically the Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility, disagreed.
“One of the first things we did two years ago was to implement a public engagement plan,” she said, noting that this was also implemented in the Richmond connects Action plan. “This operational plan covered the 14 segments (of the planned route) and defined exactly how we would proceed.”
Clarke says the city owns Bryan Park and worked with trail planning consultants and the Virginia Department of Transportation to plan a trail, and met with the Friends of Bryan Park. Over the past two years, three alternative routes through Bryan Park have been discussed, including one proposed by VDOT and another proposed by the Friends of the Fall Line.
“We worked with (the Department of Parks and Recreation) very early on to say, ‘Hey, how can we keep people safe in Bryan Park and keep them away from cars?’ We don’t need walkers on the street where there are cars.”
These discussions revealed some challenges that ultimately led to the route the city chose.
“Part of the problem is that some sections of the paved trails are used for weekly bike races that cannot be closed,” Clarke said.
Clarke also said that the city will review all changes to the trail on its website.
Regarding damage to existing trees, Clarke said the DPW has assessed more than 300 trees that may need to be removed depending on the route of the trail.
“Of those, we identified six that would potentially be impacted. Of those six, we were able to narrow it down to three (to be removed), two of which were crepe myrtles and one was a good mature tree,” she said. “As part of a compensation program, we are planting 11 trees as part of this project.”
Overall, the entire route costs approx. 300 million US dollarswith funding coming from sources such as the Central Virginia Transit Authority and VDOT. Each municipality also contributes money.
The cost of the Bryan Park section is about $3.76 million, with the majority – $3 million – coming from the CVTA, said Chet Parsons, general manager.
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