Photo Credit: Timmons Group
On a recent, warm Sunday afternoon in October, a diverse spectrum of people could be found cycling, running, and power-walking through the Four Mile Creek section of the Virginia Capital Trail. A dad trailed closely behind his young daughter on a bike as they zipped up a hill. An older gentleman jogged on a wooden bridge that spanned a wetland. Spandex-clad weekend warriors whooshed by on an eastward trek. Two women, carrying on a conversation, strode energetically down the path.
This lively scene speaks to the success of the Virginia Capital Trail project as a popular destination among visitors both local and from afar—neighborhood residents who exercise here regularly and cyclists loaded with saddle bags on cross-country journeys. The Four Mile Creek section was the final piece of what is a 52-mile-long multiuse trail connecting Virginia’s capital, Richmond, with its historic colonial capitals of Williamsburg and Jamestown.
Located nine miles east of the Capital Trail starting point in downtown Richmond, the Four Mile Creek section of the trail opened in October 2015. The Four Mile Section, the only portion of the trail that diverges away from an otherwise parallel route along historic Route 5, a state-designated Scenic Byway, entailed a number of design challenges along its 3.5-mile span. The successful design and construction of this leg of the trail forms an excellent case study in how strong cooperation among the members of a project team enabled deft navigation of engineering and permitting challenges to deliver a completed project on schedule, in time for Richmond’s hosting of the UCI Road World Championships in Fall 2015.