Ribbon-Cutting Saturday for Pohick Stream Valley Trail

The new trail connecting the with Burke Lake Road and the Burke Village Shopping Center will officially open Saturday, National Trails Day.

Bicyclists will meet at the Burke VRE station Saturday at 9:30, and the bike convoy will leave at 9:40 a.m. to arrive in time for brief ribbon-cutting ceremonies. The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the bridge on Burke Road, adjacent to the Burke Village II Shopping Center, 9570 Burke Road.

The Fairfax County transportation bond approved in November 2007 included a project in the Pohick Stream Valley Park to build a trail connecting the Burke VRE station with Burke Lake Road and the Burke Village Shopping Center. The project included construction of two sections of asphalt trail and one stream crossing. One section connects the VRE station with a newly constructed trail and existing Park Authority and Burke Conservancy trails in Pohick Stream Valley Park.

Another section connects the park trail with Burke Lake Road and Burke Road to the east via a new bridge. The completed trail provides more than two miles of contiguous stream valley trail with several public and private trails connecting the VRE station, the shopping center and several residential communities. 

This was a joint project between the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) and Fairfax County Park Authority providing both recreational and commuter trails for area residents. It was determined early in the project development phase that, because of the location and environmental attributes, the project would be designed and constructed by the Park Authority. The total project cost of $814,000 was funded by the FCDOT as part of the 2007 transportation bond.

The Fairfax County Park Authority Public Information Office provided this information to Patch.