ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Flooding in 2018 and 2019 closed major portions of the Holmes Run Trail. $6 million (unfunded) and three more years are what it’ll take to reopen the full trail.
The city has posted a web page with some details, but it does not offer specifics for reconstruction priority: Holmes Run Trail Closures.
Has the HRT ever been completely open end to end since the extension to Columbia Pike? I’m not sure. A sewer line break closed the Fairfax County section for an extended period into 2014. Construction of the new Ripley Street bridge took nearly a year. West of the bridge was washed out. Just east of Duke Street, another bridge closed late in 2019.
This disheartening news comes as backlash over the Seminary Road reconfiguration (Alexandria Now) is organizing. Their outrage — travel times may be a minute longer during 15-30 minute intervals during peak commuting periods. The other 23½ hours a day are unchanged. The Eisenhower Partnership has also come out against bicycle infrastructure in an Alexandria Now article. The Holmes Run Trail feeds into the Eisenhower Trail. I ride that stretch about 75 times a year for recreation and commuting.
On February 6, Alexandria Now caught up to the story: Portion of Holmes Run Trail Still Closed Following Last Year’s Floods with No Relief in Sight
It’s time for city officials to show whether their commitment non-automotive mobility is real or just virtue signaling. It’s time to fast-track Holmes Run Trail repairs and keep Seminary Road modifications.
Previous Holmes Run Trail posts
The Holmes Run Trail is finally connected under I-395
The Holmes Run Trail is closer to whole: bridge near Duke Street finally opens
The Holmes Run Trail may not be whole until 2025
