In a memo dated Aug. 19, 1985, on the Hillside Road Trail, emergency appropriations were requested by Supervisor Elaine McConnell (R-Springfield) to complete pedestrian access on Hillside Road from the intersection at Rolling Road all the way down to Old Keene Mill Road.
Although the memo stated the project's initiation in FY ‘83, stating "every effort will be made to expedite the completion of this project," it is finally being completed this summer, according to Randall Flowers, the team leader of Fairfax County Planning and Design Division.
"This is really the last gap in pedestrian facilities from Rolling Road to Old Keene Mill Road," Flowers said.
McConnell was happy to see progress as well.
"I have worked on that bridge for years," she said. "It's been a long, hard fight."
In the early 1980s, the money was appropriated for the bridge and then redirected to the Shirley Gate Road project, which had a higher priority, McConnell said.
A multipurpose trail lines the western side of the roadway except for the gap between the Hillside Landing subdivision and Cameo Glen. The existing trail was put in as part of proffers arranged with builders in the past. Little room exists for pedestrians between the traffic on Hillside and the guardrail. At that point, the road crosses Pohick Creek and a wooded gulch.
In June 2004, construction will begin on 260 feet of trail leading to and from a 160-foot bridge across the creek and gulch. The project is expected to be complete by December 2004 and cost $303,913. The money is coming out of the Springfield Trailway Fund, according to Peyton Onks, administrative assistant in McConnell's office.
"The bridge pretty much traverses the culvert," Flowers said. "At that point, we'll have a continuous sidewalk from Old Keene Mill. It's for bicycles and pedestrians."
Connie Ingram has lived in a development just off Hillside for 17 years. She thinks the pedestrian bridge is needed at the intersection of Hillside Road and Old Keene Mill Road, not along Hillside. There is a bus stop on the other side of Old Keene Mill that needs addressing, Ingram said.
"That's where it should go," Ingram said. "A lot of people miss the bus."
Flowers is aware of that crossing, which is presently an "at-grade," crossing, meaning a crosswalk at the traffic light. A crossing over Old Keene Mill would be a more extensive project and costly.
"Money amounts wouldn't allow us to do it," Flowers said, although he realized "it can be a difficult crossing."
"We basically had to do an at-grade crossing," Flowers said.
An attempt was made to route the Metrobus up Hillside, but McConnell said that there was much opposition to that idea.
"They did not want a bus route cutting through the neighborhood," she said.
A light was put in at the intersection in 2003 with a crossing signal, which cost about $75,000, McConnell said.
"Getting the light was a great help" she said. "I think the timing on that is sufficient." She added that anyone having trouble with the light should contact her office, and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will check the timing.
AT ONE POINT in the construction, traffic on Hillside will be stopped. On the present schedule, the traffic will be stopped for three days while three cranes maneuver the bridge pieces into place. This will be in August, Flowers said.
"Hillside Road will be closed over three days. It will be done on the weekend," he said.
The bridge is being constructed in two pieces at another location and will be delivered to the site on flat bed trucks.
Residents on the southern side of the gulch will travel to and from their homes on Old Keene Mill, while residents on the north side will be limited to access from Rolling Road.
Peyton Onks is an administrator in McConnell's office familiar with the project. Onks said that the delay in the project was due to funding, utility relocation and difficulty in obtaining easements.