Trail Before Tragedy

A few weeks ago I saw two young teens biking west towards Round Hill from Franklin Park. There was a long line of cars waiting for an opportunity to pass. If I were not driving I could have taken that "perfect shot" to illustrate the absolute necessity for a bike & pedestrian trail along this corridor.

I am afraid there is going to be a tragedy along this road.

We need to act now and work together to get the construction of this trail going.

As many of us know, the trail extension connecting Purcellville to Franklin Park to Round Hill has been "in the works" for years – just about 10 now. We have decided to give some impetus to the project by increasing the visibility of the popular demand for the completion of this project.

Having talked with civic leaders in Purcellville, one way we can push the trail forward is to demonstrate the public support for it. Through BikeLoudoun, we would like to organize a grass roots campaign of sending regular emails and speaking in support of moving this nearly decade in planning trail forward.

While the Round Hill portion is ready for bid, now budget cuts and economic downturn seem to have stalled it. Our focus will be the County staff and district elected officials. Keeping pressure on the County staff and Supervisor is most important as they have control of the project: making any grant applications and pushing it forward.

Basically, we want to provide the "push" that will give our representatives the incentive to fast-track this shovel-ready project.

Please contact us if you can become involved with this effort, even if it's just your name on a support list.