Great news, friends! The Virginia Capital Trail, which will eventually wind its way along the James River through Rocketts Landing, has seen some wonderful developments in the past few weeks. As huge advocates of the Trail that will eventually link Richmond to Jamestown on one continuous multi-use path, we’re excited to hear about the project’s recent progress. So, we wanted to share the news with you.
Improvements at Great Shiplock Park
The Great Shiplock Park is located between Shockoe Bottom
and Rocketts Landing on Canal Street and right along the Virginia Capital Trail
downtown. On October 15, Mayor Jones and many others came out to the park to
dedicate a new trailhead in a ribbon cutting ceremony marking further progress
toward finalizing the Trail.
Through a $450,000 investment that began last spring, the
City made needed updates and improvements to the park that include:
Downtown Portion of Virginia Capital Trail Almost Finished
Virginia Capital Trail construction started in 2004 in James City County, and while the Trail’s full development has been slower than expected at times, Richmond has been making strides toward its goals. At the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Mayor Jones announced the great news that Richmond is on schedule to complete its portion of the Trail by June 2014.
"We
are excited about the commitment we're hearing from both V-DOT and the City of
Richmond to complete the entire trail by the UCI Road World Championships in
2015," explains Beth Weisbrod, executive director of the Virginia Capital
Trail Foundation (VCTF), the nonprofit serving as the Trail’s leading
advocate.
Once complete, the Trail will continue the current section
that ends at the Great Shiplock Park to then wind down Dock Street through
Rocketts Landing and into Varina and beyond. They plan to convert the old
railroad tracks that currently run along the banks of the James River in our
community into Richmond’s remaining trail portion. And we’re thrilled that the
vision of our residents and visitors being able to walk out their front doors
and hop on the Trail to ride or bike it into the City or down to Jamestown is
finally within sight!
Interactive Virginia
Capital Trail Map on the Foundation’s Website
Another exciting Trail improvement is new interactive
software that the Virginia Capital
Trail Foundation (VCTF) has received through a Google Maps Engine Grant. VCTF
will use the software (which usually starts at $25,000) to improve and revamp
their website’s online map. The new tool will offer Trail users detailed
information about the Virginia Capital Trail and surrounding amenities and
attractions.
By extending the Trail experience to their website, the VCTF hopes the information will help bring the Trail to life and increase its exposure and usability, while allowing smartphone use when people are on the Trail or planning a trip.
We’re very excited about all these great developments for the Virginia Capital Trail and can’t wait for this vision to become a full reality! As new updates happen, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
(Photos courtesy of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation)