RICHMOND, Va. -- Near Bryan Park at the border of Richmond and Henrico County, construction crews are actively working on one of the first stretches of the Fall Line Trail to get shovels in the ground.
Near the old Bank of America building on Lakeside Avenue — which will soon become Sports Backers' new headquarters — Dominion Energy crews worked Wednesday to install a new pedestrian crossing signal for those using this stretch of that trail.
For future phases of construction, the 43-mile paved bike/pedestrian standalone trail — which will stretch from Ashland to Petersburg — just got a major influx of funding from the state of Virginia.
In the state budget signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R -Virginia) earlier this month, $7.5 million in unused funds from the Virginia Trails Office was allocated for the Fall Line Trail project. It marks the first time a Richmond area trail received funding from the office, which was launched in 2022, according to Sports Backers.
Brantley Tyndall, the director of Sports Backers' Bike-Walk RVA program, said 340,000 people live within two miles of the Fall Line Trail's path and said state lawmakers' support for connecting so many communities helps advance construction farther down the line.
“The Fall Line as designed will be one of the highly prioritized trails in Virginia because of how impactful it will be," Tyndall said.
WATCH: New 43-mile bike and hike trail is coming to Virginia: 'Going to change the way people live'
VDOT, the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, and the seven localities that will house the trial are working on the construction and funding portions of the project, while Sports Backers has worked since 2017 on advocacy, planning, support, and fundraising aspects.
“Every dollar counts and every mile will count. $7.5 million has brought our total fundraising to about $280 million. We’re over two-thirds of the way there before even much of the construction has even started," Tyndall said. "This level of fund-raising has helped us be on the precipice of having multiple construction phases going on at the same time. We’ll see 20 miles of construction happening all at once over the next year and a half or so.”
Virginia State Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D - Henrico) and Del. Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield) prioritized including the funding in the final state version of the state budget.
"The Fall Line trail is an exciting project that promises to transform people’s access to active living across Central Virginia and right through Chesterfield County,” Coyner said. “I am thrilled we found a way to tap the State Trails Fund to support it this session.”
"I can’t wait for the Fall Line trail to connect our Central Virginia communities from Ashland to Petersburg," said VanValkenburg. "Two years ago, with the help of Sports Backers, we dedicated funding to the State Trails Office for this kind of investment in our local economies and quality of life. I am pleased the General Assembly was able to allocate a portion of that fund to this transformational trail project in the Commonwealth that will be a game changer for Henrico County.”
While plenty of cyclists will use the entire 43-mile trail upon completion (estimated around 2030), Tyndall said the daily uses of the Fall Line Trail will be plentiful, since it runs near/adjacent to so many neighborhoods and population hubs.
From their research on the project, Tyndall said they believe the trail will be the first in the country to directly connect two HBCUs (Virginia State University and Virginia Union University).
WATCH: 'Incredibly important' Fall Line Trail breaks ground in Henrico
"The original concept of the Fall Line was to specifically connect communities. It wasn't supposed to be something you exclusively drive your car to ride your bike on. But really, you can bike to school to the store to work," he said. "On average, they say Americans take eight trips a day, so biking to work might not always be realistic, but you can bike some of those other trips."
Sports Backers was part of a national survey a few years ago that found more people would walk or bike for trips during their day-to-day if they felt safe to do so.
“Sixty percent of people would bike more if they had access to safe infrastructure. The reason they don’t bike now is because they don’t feel safe biking in traffic," Tyndall said. "The Fall Line is going be like the I-95 of bike-pedestrian infrastructure, and it’s going to be an open door to the kind of lifestyle most people feel like they have not had open before.”
On a sunny off day from work, friends Nathalie Warren and Alex Lesniak went for a run by Bryan Park, and even before CBS 6 approached them, part of their cool-down conversation was the Fall Line Trail coming to the park.
"It's exciting that the Fall Line is coming here because it will get more people out here walking, running, riding bikes. Just getting people healthier and a nice thing to bring to this area," Lesniak said. "Bring the communities together, tie everyone."
"Anything to get people outside more, enjoy the sun more, and just enjoy life more," Warren said. “Just being out in the sun and just enjoying this beautiful air can change your mood, change so many things.”
Future funding to complete the trail will be necessary, but the localities and CVTA remain committed to completing the "transformational" trail.
A groundbreaking for the Bryan Park portion of the Fall Line trail is set for later this summer. Portions of the Fall Line Trail from Ashland through Hanover and into Henrico are also under construction.
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