The city has been working on a city wide greenway plan since the late 1990’s. In 2001, City Council adopted a Conceptual Greenway Development –South River Trail Plan which included a connector trail from Loth Springs to Ridgeview Park. The 2001 plan notes this will be a diverse trail section combining traditional trails, sidewalks and on-street facilities. Key concerns include creating a safe crossing at Arch and Wayne Avenue, finding the most feasible and cost effective route through the Tree Streets and clearly delineating public / private spaces along Cliffside Drive. In 2013, the city worked with the Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC) at Virginia Tech to study, in more detail, possible neighborhood impacts, potential routes and detailed analysis of the project area. In October 2016, the city applied for funding through VDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Plan (TAP) to hire professional engineers to continue to refine the plans. In the fall of 2017, the city was awarded full funding ($1,000,000) for the project including engineering and construction through a funding stream known as the “open container” fund. Normally, TAP funds require a 20% local tax dollar match which would have been $200,000. However, open container funds do not require this match therefore saving the city $200,000.

Project Timeline
The city will procure professional engineering services in early 2018. Once a firm has been selected, a detailed field survey will be conducted to identify right-of-way, potential utilities conflicts and preferred routes through the tree streets neighborhood. Citizen meetings will be conducted to discuss various pros and cons of potential routes. Once a final route is determined, engineering plans and a bid packet will be developed. Construction on the connector trail could be as early as fall of 2018 or early spring 2019.
Project Details
The project is divided into 3 parts. Part one is the trail connection from the current Loth Springs trail head, improved pedestrian crossing at Wayne Avenue and river side trail along Rife Road. Part 2 will be a series of sidewalks and bike sharrows through the tree streets neighborhood terminating near Oak Avenue. Part 3 will be a wider more traditional trail which follows the abandoned city-owned street, Cliffside Road, terminating at the walk bridge in Ridgeview Park.