County will repave part of Cross County Trail
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| The Cross County Trail |
The Fairfax County Park Authority will begin construction to improve the surface of the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail between King Arthur Road and Woodburn Road in Annandale this month.
The trail will be repaved with asphalt and concrete, and several culverts will be replaced. The project is expected to be completed in May 2019.
The project design and construction costs $412,700. Funding comes from park bonds approved by voters.
The work will be done by Accubid Construction Services Inc. Construction access to the site will be from the park entrances on King Arthur Road and Woodburn Road. The work will be completed in four phases, and detour routes will be available as sections are closed for construction.
In other park news, the Fairfax County Park Authority Board approved two Mastenbrook Volunteer Matching Fund Grants in the Landmark area.
A $17,500 grant was awarded to the Overlook Foundation to remove invasive plants – primarily wisteria vines – in Turkeycock Run Stream Valley and restore damaged areas with native plants.
The board approved a $14,845 grant to the Pioneer Baseball League to purchase and install wireless-controlled scoreboards with LED lighting at Clermont Park.
This is great! I'm especially glad to hear about the trail and the removal of invasive plants. It's hard enough to maintain the health of an ecosystem without native species, and invasives make it almost impossible, doing far more damage than most people realize.
Please, please, please: be aware of what's growing around you! Find out what's what, and make your yard more agreeable to local wildlife! It's really not that hard to do–a few small changes can go a long way, and you'll find that it's much easier and affordable to maintain a backyard habitat with native species than with exotic and intrusive stuff. I'm not a gardener AT ALL, but my townhouse yard thrives. It's amazing how many critters visit (and do no harm). I don't need to go to the zoo for a nature fix!
We have a lot of resources nearby, including:
Fairfax County Park Authority:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature
Fairfax Master Gardeners:
http://fairfaxgardening.org/
Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia:
https://mgnv.org/
The Audubon Society of Virginia:
http://audubonva.org/new-page/
Green Spring Master Gardeners:
https://ourstoriesandperspectives.com/2017/11/29/green-springs-master-gardener-program-celebrates-15-years/
Anyone who wants to learn more about the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Habitat program can visit:
https://www.nwf.org/en/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create
If you're at all curious, give it a look-see.
–kda