A Walk to the Park?
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A Walk to the Park?

Security concerns altering plans for Jones Point.

Public access to Jones Point Park may be limited to shoe leather based on the latest threat assessment by the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. The present road would either be closed or be gone.

That was the word from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project buttressed by two departments of Alexandria government. It will be a major topic of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Neighborhood Task Force at their June 17 meeting, according to Reed Winslow, WWB liaison, Alexandria Transportation and Environmental Services Administration.

"We've been pressuring them [WWB Project] to get off the dime and tell us what guidance they've been getting from the feds about access to the park and parking," Winslow said. "We have a meeting scheduled for this Friday with the Mayor [Bill Euille}, Councilman [Andrew] Macdonald, Parks and Recreation and us, to hear their recommendations."

Following that meeting various options for parking and the future of Jones Point Road will be brought to the WWB Neighborhood Task Force meeting for input. Mayor Euille and Councilman Macdonald serve as co-chairs of that body. Neither was available for comment prior to deadline due to previously scheduled out-of-state travel agendas.

In the latest turn of events, Homeland Security and DoD have indicated they do not want a road leading to park access any closer to the new bridge than 80 to 100 feet, according to Winslow. This could eliminate the feasibility of any public road leading to the park and river.

"Originally, a new road was to be constructed under the bridge leading to parking areas for 247 vehicles. The existing road was to have been torn up," Winslow explained. "However, all that changed after 9/11."

As stated in a letter of November 6, 2001, to Alexandria City Manager Philip Sunderland, bridge project manager, Ronaldo T. "Nick" Nicholson, stated, "...the events of September 11 have resulted in concerns ... over potential terrorist threats to facilities... an overall threat assessment of the existing and proposed bridge has been undertaken ..."

NOW THE FEAR of terrorist action to the bridge has brought into question the use of the present road other than by emergency vehicles. "This all stems from the threat assessment brought on by the 9/11 attacks," said John R. Undeland, public affairs director, WWB Project.

"What we are trying to do is address the parking problem and have it have as little impact on the park as possible. If Jones Point Road were eliminated it could even have the effect of making the park more serene and useful," Undeland stressed.

"We all worked hard to reach a consensus on the park and we don't want to go back to square one. This has not been settled. There are a variety of options under consideration. There won't be anything solidified until after all parties have a chance for input," Undeland said.

However, Undeland did acknowledge that both Maryland and Virginia, as well as the federal government, have agreed that no public road should be closer to the north side of the new bridge than 80 feet. "This is based on the fear of a large vehicle loaded with explosives possibly damaging the bridge and shutting down I-95, our main north/south route," he verified.

Alexandria's Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities Department is a major player in the future development of the park as is the National Park Service.

"After all its their [National Park Service] property that we have a lease on. So they definitely will want to have their input," said Kirk Kincannon, city parks director.

As to keeping a Jones Point Road as a public thoroughfare, Kincannon said that the distance for such a public road from the new bridge's north side has ranged anywhere from 200 to 80 feet. "However, I think they have pretty well settled on 80 feet if it's kept as a public road," he revealed.

"But from our angle there will need to be some form of vehicle accessibility to the park for emergency purposes. We are trying to keep as much of the redesign of the park in tact as possible," Kincannon assured.

IF A NEW ROAD were constructed the minimum distance from the bridge, 80 feet, it would impact homes on Lee Court as well as trees, and other wetlands vegetation on the north side, according to both Winslow and Undeland. If it is closed there is the problem of where to relocate the planned 247 parking spaces now part of future park design plans.

One area under consideration is the community gardens across South Royal Street from St. Marys Elementary School. "They would then have to be moved elsewhere," Winslow explained.

"The public gardens would be turned into a parking lot and people would be required to walk to the park," Winslow said. That distance is approximately one fifth of a mile, according to authorities.

Depending on future planning, there would also be an impact on vehicles arriving at the school daily to retrieve students. Presently, vehicles line up along South Royal Street and down onto Jones Point Road prior to entering St. Marys School grounds.

"There has been some talk of building a parking garage in the area of where the Hunting Tower building was demolished. But at this point it doesn't appear as if that would be very feasible or that many people would want to use it," Winslow said. The walk would be longer than from South Royal Street.

"There's been a lot of debate as to where to put the parking if it can't go in Jones Point Road area or under the new bridge. Every group in the city seems to have their pet projects in that area and they all see these proposals differently," Winslow said.

ACCESS TO THE PARK, parking in the vicinity of the bridge and what will constitute the final Jones Point Park design were all placed on hold pending the final analysis of terrorist threat assessment, according to Nicholson in his November 2001 letter.

At that time he emphasized, "Due to the uncertainty of future events and the pending results of the threat assessment ... future design efforts associated with the ultimate Jones Point Park configuration will be put on hold." That threat assessment remains the controlling factor.

But as Undeland pointed out, "None of this is going to happen until the second bridge is finished and opened in 2008."