Walking and biking trail from Manassas to Alexandria? Officials commission study

A analysis is underway to determine the feasibility of installing a bike and pedestrian trail from Manassas into Fairfax County with a so-called Rail With Trail project The city of Manassas has partnered with Manassas Park and Prince William County to commission a feasibility research that will determine the cost of setting a three-mile section of trail adjacent to the Virginia Railway Express Manassas line starting in the city s downtown Manassas contributed to the project while both Manassas Park and Prince William County contributed which was used to acquire the services of Kimley-Horn Associates Inc to perform the scrutiny The proposed trail section would run adjacent to the Virginia Railway Express Manassas Line between downtown Manassas and the Bull Run Trail in Fairfax County The project is considered Phase of the VRE Manassas Line Trail Landmark to City of Manassas in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority s Long-Range Transportation Plan known as TransActionEditSign Financing in the evaluation is a pivot by the localities after being denied funding by the Developing Transportation Infrastructure Funding Project a grant activity created by the Infrastructure Capital and Jobs Act signed by then-President Joseph Biden in November Run by the U S Department of Transportation the activity seeks to grant funding to projects that will provide safe and connected ongoing transportation facilities in ongoing transportation networks or transportation spines The trio of localities applied for the grant in June but were informed that the project was denied funding in January According to Chloe Delhomme senior planner for the city of Manassas the project was submitted to the initiative among applications nationwide and only were selected among a competitive field If the Kimley-Horn analysis determines that the project is feasible a cost estimate will be developed for full design and construction and funding will be sought reported Delhomme The second phase of the trail project would be between Bull Run Trail in Fairfax County and Landmark in the city of Alexandria which if completed would encompass more than miles and connect five jurisdictions in Northern Virginia As part of the evaluation Kimley-Horn will also create concepts for up to three alternative alignments of the trail and determine cost estimates for the project According to the proposal to Prince William County from Kimley-Horn the evaluation is estimated to take five months to complete Local advocates Charlie Grymes board member of the Greater Prince William County Trails Coalition stated convincing the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to fund the project is challenging but not out of the realm of possibility The project is seeking to receive of funding from the authority Grymes explained the formula for awarding authority grants prioritizes traffic congestion relief something the walking and bike trail would do Grymes declared getting the Rail With Trail project to rank high enough to earn authority funding will require careful documentation of benefits in the research He added that obtaining right-of-way would also seemingly require the longest time for building a trail in an already-developed area Trips taken on trails are an alternative to driving a car especially as jurisdictions build live-work-play walkable communities and ParkCentral develops in Manassas Park reported Grymes A bike pedestrian connection between two VRE stations in the centers of Manassas and Manassas Park with an extension to Fairfax County will reduce car trips Various member organizations of the trails coalition have championed the expansion of trails that are included within the comprehensive plans of Manassas Manassas Park and Prince William County since its establishment in Among member organizations that have been the majority vocal in advocating for trails have been Evolving Prince William and Walk Virginia The groups have also recommended additional trail segments such as the trail projects to create a complete organization of connected pathways According to Grymes Walk Virginia in particular has been focused in particular on transportation solutions along the Road corridor Source