Earlier this week, officials from Hanover, Henrico, and the Town of Ashland held a groundbreaking ceremony in Ashland to celebrate the start of construction on a 4.8-mile portion of the 43-mile Fall Line Trail. The section, currently called Design-Build Phase 1, will extend the northernmost existing completed section of the Ashland section of the trail to Woodman Road in Henrico. It is the first major construction phase of the Fall Line to be administered by Virginia Department of Transportation.
The Fall Line ultimately will run from Ashland to Petersburg, traveling through a portion of northern Henrico in the process. It also will connect with the Virginia Capital Trail and the Appomattox River Trail. The full trail is expected to be completed by 2030.
The 4.8-mile portion underway will be built on or next to the remnants of the former Ashland Trolley Line and is expected to cost about $25.8 million. It will be a 10-foot-wide, paved, multi-use trail that will offer a place for all formed of active transportation, including walking, running and cycling.
“The Fall Line trail, as envisioned by Sports Backers, will serve as the spine of our active transportation network connecting people to schools, businesses, parks, universities and neighborhoods,” said Jon Lugbill, the executive director of Sports Backers, the organization that created the original concept for the trail. “Constructing the Fall Line trail through seven localities and a multitude of destinations provides our region with the opportunity to build one of the most transformative trails in the country.”
“Henrico County is excited to see another portion of the Fall Line becoming a reality for residents, bicyclists and other recreational users across central Virginia,” said Fairfield District Supervisor Roscoe D. Cooper III, of the Henrico Board of Supervisors. “After years of planning and community engagement, it’s particularly gratifying to see the trail taking shape as a regional amenity, with this critical crossing of the Chickahominy River, between Hanover and Henrico. Before we know it, the Fall Line will extend south all the way from the existing Ashland Trolley Line Trail in Ashland and joining with sections in Henrico, where our Park Street Phase in Lakeside is well under construction and targeted for completion later this summer.”
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