Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park visitors can now officially enjoy the trail during the same hours at any point in its 45-mile length.
The board of directors for NOVA Parks, the regional authority that owns and operates the park, voted at its May 21 meeting to standardize 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily as the W&OD Trail’s formal operating hours, effective immediately.
Fairfax City is eyeing a potential solution to fix a trail project that was approved and fully funded while minimizing financial penalties as a result of the city council canceling a different planned extension earlier this year.
During a council work session on Tuesday (May 26), staff proposed that the project — previously called the George Snyder Trail Extension — be renamed the Wilcoxon Trail Extension, and add on-street paths along Draper Drive, instead of connecting to existing trails by cutting through parkland.
Registration is now open for the sixth annual Tour de Hunter Mill community bicycle ride set for Sunday, May 3. Participants can choose between riding two scenic routes — 11 or 19 miles — designed to accommodate both beginners and experienced cyclists.
This year’s event will highlight Vienna, according to Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who started the event in 2021.
Opponents of the proposed Cinder Bed Road Bikeway found a captive audience at the April 11 dedication of the Franconia Governmental Center.
“The lines of citizens waiting outside to get in gave us protesters the opportunity to open discussions about the Bikeway,” said Philip Latasa, who helped organize the public information rally at the new government facility at 7130 Silver Lake Blvd.
Fairfax County staff have revised language in the proposed Active Transportation and Trails Plan in an effort to smooth out friction between advocates for pedestrians/bicyclists and environmental issues.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission on Wednesday night (March 18) reviewed the proposed changes and recommended approval of the new plan by the Board of Supervisors when the issue is addressed in May.
Recent proposals to use part or all of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Regional Park for future transit options are non-starters, the body controlling the right-of-way says.
“Similar proposals have been discussed previously and have been determined to not be viable,” NOVA Parks officials said in a March 11 posting on the regional body’s website.
Transit advocates have dusted off a 60-year-old proposal to add transit operations along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Regional Park.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) has received more than 60 requests in recent months to consider the concept, executive director Kate Mattice said at the body’s March 5 meeting.
The contentious George Snyder Trail extension will officially remain unbuilt, as the Fairfax City Council opted to nix the project Tuesday (Jan. 13) following more than two hours of public comments.
The council voted 4-2 to cancel the project, with Councilmembers Tom Peterson, Rachel McQuillen, Stacy Hall and Billy Bates in favor and Councilmembers Stacy Hardy-Chandler and Anthony Amos opposed.
Pedestrians can now walk directly from Merrifield to Fairfax Circle, or vice versa, along Route 50 (Arlington Blvd) without having to cross or step into the busy roadway.
The final piece of a multi-year initiative to improve the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure on a 1.5-mile stretch of Route 50 between Blake Lane and Prosperity Avenue was completed last month, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation announced.
The Fairfax County Park Authority has identified a way to fully fund a sought-after trail on the south side of Colvin Run Mill Park.
Bond funding originally earmarked for a pedestrian bridge over Pimmit Run in Idylwood will be used instead to complete connections in Colvin Run Park, which is bisected by Route 7 (Leesburg Pike), staff told the Fairfax County Park Authority Board at its Nov. 12 meeting.
