Henrico officials break ground on Fall Line Trail in Lakeside

A years-long vision to create a north-south trail through the Richmond region officially came to life Wednesday morning in Lakeside, when Henrico County officials joined representatives from Sports Backers to break ground on the first segment of the Fall Line trail at Spring Park in Lakeside.

The trail ultimately will run 43 miles from Ashland to Petersburg, cutting through Hanover, Henrico, Richmond and Chesterfield and Colonial Heights along the way. Henrico is constructing its 7.5-mile segment from Spring Park to the Hanover County line at the Chickahominy River in eight parts during the next three years at a cost of $52 million ($45.2 million of which is being funded by regional, state and federal dollars).

“Our county is very excited this day, and I’m confident that the many bicyclists, runners, hikers and others from throughout Central Virginia and beyond are sharing that excitement with us,” Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas told a crowd of officials and other guests who gathered at the site.

Spring Park, an unassuming site that sits in the shadows of nearby I-95, hidden slightly from Lakeside Avenue, is perhaps best-known as the location from which an enslaved man named Gabriel attempted to lead a rebellion in the name of equality in 1800 – an effort that never took shape because others tipped off officials.

Soon, its history will become better known to thousands who will pass through along the trail.

“This phase, the Park Street phase, is actually one of our smallest phases, but it’s. . . very symbolic,” Henrico Director of Public Works Terrell Hughes said.

Part of Wednesday’s ceremony was a surprise announcement from Sports Backers, a regional organization whose efforts have helped make the Fall Line Trail a reality. Sports Backers CEO Jon Lugbill told those assembled that his organization would be moving its headquarters from Richmond, near The Diamond, to the former Bank of America branch at 4921 Lakeside Avenue – and the entrance to Spring Park – a 6,000-square-foot building that Henrico County purchased for just more than $1 million in June, with plans to use it as a trailhead.

Henrico now will enact a 20-year lease of the facility to Sports Backers, which is planning to launch a $1 million fundraising campaign to renovate the structure and also create an “active-living hub” with indoor and outdoor recreational space.

“The feedback so far from donors that we’ve talked to has been incredibly positive,” Lugbill said. “I think people understand that this is the Sports Backers’ future, that the Fall Line Trail can be a transformative project.”

The county still will create the trailhead features it initially envisioned at the site, including bathroom facilities, drinking fountains, an informational kiosk, directional signage, trashcans, benches, a bike rack and pet waste station.

The first phase of the trail’s construction also will include pedestrian enhancements between the city of Richmond line and Spring Park along a quarter-mile stretch. Officials are planning to install a high-visibility, 12-foot-wide crosswalk with a hybrid beacon (a pedestrian-activated signal system) across Lakeside Avenue from Bryan Park Avenue to Park Avenue and into Spring Park, as well as a 1,400-foot, 12-foot-wide paved multi-use trail from Bryan Park to Spring Park.

Lugbill praised Vithoulkas for his role in helping the overall plans for the trail take shape expeditiously.

“I was on a call with the governor’s chief of staff when John Vithoulkas said, ‘You know, we want to get the Henrico section done and we know that’s going to be really great, but it’s only going to be great if it goes all the way from Ashland to Petersburg. We want the whole thing done, and we want it done sooner rather than later, so how do we do that?’” Lugbill recalled. “We thought the governor’s person was going to be twisting John’s arm – it was the other way around. It turned into, ‘How do we get the state to match what the county’s willing to do?’”

In total, construction of the trail could approach $300 million in costs; about $252 million of that amount already has been allocated.

“For a better part of two decades, our region has envisioned a north-south trail for bicyclists, walkers and others that would traverse and showcase our historic trolley lines,” Henrico Board of Supervisors Chairman and Fairfield District Supervisor Frank Thornton said. “It is wonderful that this dream, which reflects a strong partnership between local and state government, and private supporters, is finally becoming a reality.”