BRISTOL, Va. — City leaders on Tuesday selected a North Carolina firm to assess the feasibility and cost of connecting the Mendota Trail to downtown.
The City Council unanimously approved the proposal submitted by Alta Planning and Design of Asheville to study linkage of the 12.7-mile hiking and biking path from the Mendota Trail trailhead just inside the city limits at 3460 Island Road to the center of the city — a nearly 3-mile path.
The study is fully funded by grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission.
“I am excited. It was huge we got the funding to pay for this feasibility study,” Mayor Becky Nave said after the meeting. “I’ll be anxious to see what those findings are when they present those to us.”
Established along a former railroad bed, the trail is owned and maintained by Washington County Virginia. It was developed by nonprofit Mountain Heritage. Years ago the city sought to develop the trail but adjacent landowners were resistant and city officials ultimately deeded the land to the nonprofit in 2016.
“This plan will identify trail alternatives, preliminary engineering needs and the specific costs for implementation of the necessary steps to address design standards and road crossing issues,” according to request for proposals. “The plan will require professional engineering components which manage safety concerns and critical infrastructure improvement.”
A key concern involves where the trailhead is located.
“Currently, pedestrian/bicycle access to the trailhead is considered unsafe due to high vehicular speeds and substandard roadway curvature, along with a lack of a dedicated pedestrian/bicycle pathway. The proposed Bristol connector would greatly improve access to the trail; however, the Pittstown Road intersection with the railbed will require improvements to accommodate a trail crossing,” according to the RFP.
The funding includes a preliminary engineering plan but will not pay for any construction or right-of-way acquisition.
“The next step will then be finding funding to implement it,” she said. “What I love is this isn’t costing our taxpayers any money and this is an opportunity for us to, hopefully, one day have that connector from the trailhead all the way to downtown.”
The RFP document mentions two specific ending locations, with one in each state.
“Two possible connector end points to be considered are Cumberland Square Park at the intersection of Cumberland and Moore Streets and the Bristol Visitor Center located at the intersection of Anderson Street and Volunteer Parkway (currently under construction),” according to the document.
“I think it could benefit the businesses along the way, it will attract people to come to that Bristol trailhead which is already a beautiful trailhead,” the mayor said. “It could be an opportunity to expose a lot of people riding to the Bristol trailhead to come down and explore our downtown who maybe wouldn’t have otherwise.”