On April 21, Supervisor John Foust, County Park Authority staff, and representatives from Dominion Virginia Power and the Lewinsville Coalition, celebrated the recent completion of a walkway across the traffic island located at the intersection of Spring Hill Road and Lewinsville Road.
The Lewinsville Road and Spring Hill Road intersection is one of the busiest intersections in McLean -- blocks from Tysons and abutting both the Spring Hill RECenter and Spring Hill Elementary School. The absence of a walkway on the traffic island has long been an obstacle for safely navigating the area. The completion of the trail connects three crosswalks critical to pedestrian safety in the area.
The traffic island on which the trail was built is a triangular-shaped parcel of land, previously owned by Dominion Virginia Power (DVP) and used as an electric station until 1992. As far back as 1993 and continuing for many years, the Lewinsville Coalition and elected officials attempted to get DVP to cede the property or provide a public easement to Fairfax County so that a pedestrian trail could be constructed. For a variety of reasons, their efforts were not successful.
After Supervisor Foust reopened discussions with DVP in 2012, the company decided to deed the property to Fairfax County without compensation. The land was transferred to the Park Authority and the trail was built as part of the project to renovate and expand the Spring Hill RECenter. Tim Sargeant, manager, State and Local Affairs, Dominion Resources Services, Inc. and Carolyn Moss, managing director, State and Local Affairs of Dominion Virginia Power, were instrumental in reaching the agreement. At its Jan. 8, 2013 meeting, the Board of Supervisors recognized DVP for the company's donation.
This new walkway adds to the growing network of pedestrian facilities in this neighborhood, including between Lewinsville Road and Summerwood Drive on the west side of Spring Hill Road, one on the east side of Spring Hill Road between the Veterans of Foreign Wars facility (just south of Old Dominion Drive) and Pettit Court; and one on south side of Lewinsville Road between Elsinore and Snow Meadow Court.
"Dominion is pleased to have been given the opportunity to help make this connecting trail a reality. It is deeply gratifying to see a vacant piece of land transformed into a beautiful trail that will offer multiple benefits to Northern Virginia residents for years to come. We could not be more thrilled," said Moss.
Marcellous Cooper, manager of the Spring Hill RECenter and Fairfax County Park Authority representative remarked: “Completion of the new trail connection is a wonderful improvement that provides safe pedestrian access to the RECenter from the surrounding communities.”
Speaking as the president of the Lewinsville Coalition, Irv Auerbach said: “On behalf of The Lewinsville Coalition, I express our thanks to Supervisor Foust and his staff for getting Dominion Resources to contribute the traffic island and for getting the trail designed and built.”
For more information contact Jane Edmondson in the office of Supervisor Foust at 703-356-0551 or email Jane.Edmondson@FairfaxCounty.gov.