Local government officials and others take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hanover section of the Fall Line project. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Another future section of the region-spanning Fall Line Trail has taken a step forward.
A groundbreaking event was held Tuesday to ceremoniously mark the start of construction on the 4.8-mile stretch of the Fall Line that will go through Hanover County.
The Fall Line is a planned 43-mile walking and bike trail that will run from Ashland to Petersburg. The Hanover groundbreaking followed a similar event late last year to kick off construction of the Henrico County portion.
The Hanover segment is planned to be a 10-foot-wide, shared-use path that’ll run from the end of the Ashland Trolley Line and proceed southward to connect with Woodman Road in Henrico County near the intersection with Winfrey Road.
The Hanover section will be built mostly on or near what’s left of the Ashland-Richmond Trolley Line, a defunct trolley route that operated in the early 1900s. This section of the trail will cross the Chickahominy River, and a bridge will be built as part of the project.
Following Tuesday’s ceremony, construction on the Hanover segment is expected to start in the coming weeks, VDOT Richmond District Engineer Dale Trotten said. The section is expected to be completed in September 2025.
Engineering firm Timmons Group and general contractor Branch were awarded an $11.1 million contract to handle the design and construction of the Hanover section.
Hanover Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Dibble praised the cooperative nature of the regional effort, a sentiment that was echoed by fellow speakers at the event held at the Ashland Trolley Line.
“Collaboration is really what we’re really good at,” Dibble said. “Thank you for your efforts to work together, listen to each other and really bring this project to fruition. We really appreciate it. In Hanover, we’re really excited to take this path and move it south.”
The Fall Line will run through Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, Ashland, Petersburg and Colonial Heights. Those seven local governments are working with entities such as the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, the main funder of the project, as well as local nonprofit Sports Backers, which originally hatched the idea of the trail and is leading the project.
In addition to Dibble, Hanover County Administrator John Budesky, Ashland Mayor Steve Trivett, Henrico Board of Supervisors Chairman Tyrone Nelson, VDOT engineer Trotten, CVTA Executive Director Chet Parsons and Sports Backers Executive Director Jon Lugbill also spoke during Tuesday’s event.
The entire Fall Line is targeting a 2030 completion date.
The Fall Line trail is a planned 43-mile paved trail from Petersburg to Ashland.
The trail will run through downtown Richmond, and connect with the Virginia Capital Trail that links Richmond to the Williamsburg area. The Fall Line will be largely new construction but will also link up other recreational trail amenities in the region. The Fall Line, given that it will often pass through built-up areas, is expected to serve as a commuting and transportation option in addition to a recreational amenity.
“People that are raising a family right now, they want to live in a place where they can walk and bike to things. And so often we talk about getting to work, but how about getting to the playground, getting to a coffee shop or getting to a school,” Lugbill of Sports Backers said. “It’s going to change the way people live on a daily basis.”
The entire Fall Line project is currently anticipated to cost more than $400 million to build, a number that has been affected by inflation and expected to continue to evolve through the project, Parsons of the CVTA said. The project in late 2021 was anticipated to cost $300 million.
Established in 2020, the CVTA is a regional authority that allocates tax revenues to transportation projects in the region. Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, Ashland, Goochland, Powhatan, New Kent and Charles City are represented on the authority.
As of February, the Fall Line has lined up a total of $241 million in funding for the project, Parsons said. Much of it comes by way of the CVTA, which has allocated $123 million toward the project. VDOT and localities have also contributed funding. The Hanover segment’s construction is fully funded.
Henrico held a groundbreaking for its portion of the Fall Line late last year, and construction is underway on that section. At that event, Sports Backers unveiled plans to move its headquarters to a former Bank of America branch at 4921 Lakeside Ave. that sits along the trail’s path. Henrico bought the property in summer 2023 to use it as a trailhead for the Fall Line.
Construction hasn’t started on the Fall Line sections in Richmond, Chesterfield, Colonial Heights and Petersburg, according to a Sports Backers spokeswoman.
The Fall Line has been years in the making. The trail project officially kicked off with a feasibility study in 2019, though there had been discussions about such a proposal that started several years prior. The project was formerly called the Ashland to Petersburg Trail.
$5Million per mile for a trail, that in actuality is a one lane road that will be zero servant to the environment. What would the same amount of money spent on improving our wonderful existing thousands of miles of trails in the Virginia’s state parks, national parks and national forests yielded? Kudos to the hundreds of bikers who got this nonsense approved to buy their votes.
The cost seems extravagant to me but I know it includes a lot of bridges and crossing of wetlands. And they are expensive. The trails that have been built in Fairfax and Loudoun tie into the WOD rail trail that connects far western towns in Loudoun to DC and then south to Mount Vernon. Most of the connecting trails and parks were contributed by suburban developers as part of the proffer system. It’s a wonderful way to provide passive and active recreation to that Metro area. Hopefully, the local jurisdictions will use the Fall Line trail as its catalyst for… Read more »
Yes but as I point out in a later reply, the NoVa trails have PURPOSE beyond where they start and stop because of the DENSITY of where they all pass through (there are even metro-rails up thereabouts!) I once lived not far from those trails and wished I lived right on them because, for me, I could not use them to commute or shop or anything, but had to drive to it as a recreation destination. Now, I am willing to be educated as to what this trail is supposed to accomplish other than being merely recreational. Just because the… Read more »
Tom, it’s well documented how successful the Virginia Capital Trail is—have you used it? This project is being funded by Central VA Transit Authority funds, which doesn’t have “thousands of miles of trails.” We need more trails in the Richmond metro area and this will be a great addition.
I have used parts of it many times times and except for certain weekends find it pretty empty, especially a mile of two out of Richmond. BTW, that trail already needs some maintenance in various spots, we will see how well it be maintained in the future. Using asphalt for trails is neither environmentally friendly nor conducive for long-term viability.Look at the bike trail along the George Washington Parkway from Alexandria to Mount Vernon. Great use at first, then asphalt and bridges fell apart and then the robberies and assaults began,
Imagine, if you will, a winding path that stretches out before us like a ribbon of dreams, lined with the whispers of nature’s mischievous sprites. On certain weekends, it comes alive with the laughter of families and the joyful melodies of birds, but on other days, it lies in peaceful slumber, awaiting the next traveler to grace its gentle curves. And what’s this? A call for maintenance, you say? Why, we mustn’t fret, for the asphalt trails are merely canvases upon which the brushstrokes of time shall paint their masterpiece. Each crack and crevice holds the promise of new adventures,… Read more »
Thank you for this interesting artisticly rendered response, even if I am not certain about your position regarding the subject. Certainly makes the thread a bit more spicy.
I have been to the Capital Trail lots of times and it does go though kind of the middle of nowhere on large sections of it. But I am pretty surprised how much traffic is on it. In that you do see pedestrians and bikes with in sight along of all of it.
I really think the Fall Line Trail could have 3 to 5 times more pedestrian traffic on it.
Yes, I could see the idea of more foot traffic on this, so this would be pretty much merely a recreational trail like the Capital trail?
Seems pretty expensive for a recreational trail, esp when the region could spend the money on one where more commuter bike trails are needed, and shorter would be.
Why is this getting so many downvotes?
Documented by who? The Central VA Transit Authority whose would losing funding to maintain the trail if it wasn’t a success. IS the Central VA Transit Authority going to provide bus service to the trail or is this a project for upper middle class white suburbans types. Again, $5Million a mile!!!! Follow the money on who benefits! How much is future maintenance?I would be more happy if the Developers who are turning Richmond into the worst suitcase city since Northern NJ would have paid for it. Or if those who used the trail had to pay an annual fee like… Read more »
Hey Tom, I hear your concerns around the cost and access for the new bike trail and I wanted to share a few things. I don’t represent the CVTA, by the way. This trail actually ties in really nicely with our existing bus routes along with LINK service and the future north-south BRT line that will run parallel to parts of the Fall Line. There are some questions about how the trail will best be integrated into our transit system, but it’s a step toward more viable transportation options beyond just cars. In a region lacking much bike infrastructure in… Read more »
Sorry but this sounds a bit aspirational.
Whining “but but but $5M per mile” is disingenuous given the terrain, existing highway infrastructure, wetlands, and bodies of water that need to be crossed – not to mention cost of land acquisition along one of the most densely driven interstates in the country.
I think having an HONEST discussion about such infrastructure is in order, and I mean that sincerely as a person who LIKES trails and would love to live in an area that had great well used safe bike trails that could be used as commuting infrastructure. My credentials: I was once a guy in his early 20s that chose to ride my bike to work and school as often as possible even though the way was too long long and dodgy for most people. The Corning trail I took from Albany to Troy for instance did not take me all… Read more »
Just because there are reasons why it is expensive doesn’t make him whining or even wrong. It would be expensive to build stairs to the moon, esp since the moon moves, and also expensive to dig a tunnel to China, esp since, even though the distance would be less, there everything down there would melt — I am not sure the point you are trying to make. His point is is this the best use for the money? Ideolouges will say yes like they always do, but even wanting more bike infrastructure, will this give the most bang for the… Read more »
Oh please leave dubious racial considerations out of this — unless that is your goal to spin up racial divisions — even the recreational trail in Warrenton has a lot of “Non-White” people on it, and where this trail passes is some of the most racially integrated neighborhoods in the USA. If this was a trail from Lake George to Saratoga NY or Fort Colins to Boulder, you might have a point, but even then, it would be them who funds it so who cares?
Also, I am intrigued by what you mean by suitcase city — is this some kind of class-hatred? What part of northern NJ do you find offensive? The density? Contrary to a lot of thinking, MOST of Northern NJ is very nice, nicer than a lot of Chesterfield, certainly, with of course pockets usually urban unhappiness and of course a lot of yuck near a lot of the thoroughfares.
You make some good points, but you are throwing in some dubious things.
Respectfully, and probably as an ally, wouldn’t it make sense for us to prioritize things that SHOULD, and therefore likely WOULD work for commuter use? Like, more protected trails in Richmond as a first priority. An East-West trail in Petersburg? One in Chester? I am willing to be educated, but this trail seems like an expensive answer looking for a problem — Petersburg barely needs to be connected to Colonial Heights (except to get to South Park, and that is not where the trail would go), much less Ashland. And you can’t commute from Ashland to ANYWHERE by bike. What… Read more »
If that money were spent on improving trails in other areas, we wouldn’t have an equal trail running for 43 miles from Ashland to Petersburg. People would still have to travel to those parks and forests for such an amenity. Why wouldn’t you want this trail to connect people and places where they live? As John Lugbill pointed out yesterday, there are 95 schools within 2 miles of the trail. I don’t understand why you feel there should be a distance where people live and where they can recreate or just get about without a car.
Yes, people might be inconvenienced by traveling to a state or national facility 50-100 miles out of Richmond but I can assure you it is a much, much better experience of Virginia’s outdoor treasurers. How about a better bike trail along the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive?
Tom – I can see you’re an avid motorist. Here’s some background and thought on the Fall Line Trail. It might give some other views on why this is not just an abstract leisure facility:
https://www.falllineva.org/
When I looked at the sight plans for the trail the trail does have a lot of conflicts with major four lane roads and overpasses. I really wouldn’t be surprised if the bulk of the cost is going towards three to four major road conflicts on it.
If things go good I will hopefully get the leaders of the Chesterfield and Powhatan and Cumberland Counties and Farmville to do a study on building a 93 mile long trail that follows the former Narrow Gauge Tidewater and Western Railroad bed from Chester VA at the Fall Line Trail to the High Bridge Trail in Farmville.
Trails with sidewalks?
That’s only part of the picture Bruce. If you all avail yourselves to the currently posted plans on VDOT’s website, you will see the hundreds of private property takings proposed along the alignments in order to build this 10’ wide paved trail. So this would mean portions of Chesterfield, Petersburg and City Of Richmond house lots (on roads like Brook and Hermitage just to name a few) using eminent domain as things stand. And real estate ain’t getting any cheaper. This would also include utility relocation and urban canopy removal. Initial plans to use existing bike lanes to mitigate costs… Read more »