Greening up the heart of Annandale
The Annandale Greenway was designed to connect six parks in the Annandale area – running from Green Spring Gardens westward through the heart of the town and ending in Annandale Community Park.
As of Oct. 21, a new park, the Eileen Garnett Civic Space, was inaugurated on Columbia Pike, adding a seventh park to the Greenway trail.
A well-attended opening of the new park showcased some of its features, including a community garden, outdoor play space, and brand-new native plantings.
Located between the ACCA Child Development Center and the Annandale Volunteer Fire Department, the park provides a new connection between the street frontage on Columbia Pike and Daniels Avenue.
Related story: The community celebrates the new Eileen Garnett Civic Space in Annandale
The Annandale Greenway goes through the Eileen Garnett Civic Space, establishing this new community park as the physical heart of the trail. A kiosk will eventually be installed in the park showcasing a map of the Greenway.
Development of the Greenway is continuing methodically, providing a great lesson on what it takes to work with many stakeholders in a highly complicated physical environment.
Last year, the Annandale Greenway was put on Fairfax County’s formal list of trails through the leadership of retiring Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross.
Gross has been a steadfast proponent of trails and sidewalks that serve and connect Mason District communities. This year, the signage plan for the Greenway was also approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, again through the intercession of Supervisor Gross.
So where do we stand?
We now have a designated, 4.5-mile trail through Annandale. The trail, by and large, uses existing sidewalks, natural-surface and asphalt trails, and streets in its journey. With one minor (although challenging) interruption, residents can presently walk the extent of the trail from end to end.
With the eventual approval of the ActiveFairfax Transportation Plan (the amendment to the Fairfax Comprehensive Plan currently in the works), the Greenway will start showing up in real life!
The volunteer residents in the Annandale Greenway Alliance are working on the next steps. The Greenway exists almost entirely on land owned by the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) and on Virginia Department of Transportation land and rights-of-way.
For any physical improvements – such as signs, posts, and trail construction – the FCPA or VDOT must give formal approval.
For example, the alliance is working with the Park Authority to identify and formally designate locations for Greenway signage. That process requires site evaluation and surveying in the seven affected parks.
Related story: Park Authority to manage the Annandale Greenway trails in parks
VDOT approval (working through the Fairfax County Department of Transportation) is more complicated. More of the Green is on VDOT property than on parkland, and surveying must be done by VDOT and FCDOT.
Moving forward, the Annandale Greenway Alliance will need to secure complete funding for actual sign purchase and installation and, soon thereafter, funds for new kiosks and a website with information about the trail. We will need to partner with an existing nonprofit organization for this support. In addition, there needs to be a public awareness campaign to ensure the community knows about the Greenway.
While a lot of community and individual effort has gone into planning, designing, and (soon!) implementing the trail, we still have a way to go. We are hoping to have a Greenway inauguration event in the spring of 2024, so stay tuned.
Glad to see this moving forward! Wish I had more confidence in the street crossings but our area has suffered some horrific pedestrian deaths and it’s seems apparent that VDOT needs to help us make our roads safer for walkers.
VDOT usually doesn’t initiate the project for these type of improvements. The District Supervisor is responsible for initiating most projects. I only found that out recently. I wish I had known that 20 years ago.
Any idea whatever happened to Joana Konadu, the woman who ran over Eileen, causing her death?
Whoa, let’s cool it with the hateful rhetoric. Diversity is our strength.
There’s nothing hateful about stating facts and holding reckless drivers & criminals accountable. Treating pedestrians and cyclists as inconveniences and speed bumps is sociopathic and unacceptable.
Is it sociopathic to treat drivers as inconveniences and create dangerous situations by jaywalking while looking at cell phones? Or are drivers the sociopaths? Does owning a car, following the law, and being annoyed by being constantly put in precarious situations by law-breaking jaywalkers make one a sociopath? If so, 95% of our society is full of sociopaths. Maybe you should move to a place where there are no cars, like a forest or a jungle. I personally believe that you don’t believe a word of what you wrote.
Your comment is irrelevant and rude Sociopath 5:12 PM. Make some use of yourself and go clean up the filth on Americana Drive.
I am a cyclist and have had numerous close calls with reckless drivers. Recently, a young mom was hit in Baileys Crossroads in August by a speeding maniac with no mufflers, a rear spoiler, a turbo scoop and a temporary tag on a white Subaru WRX. He nailed the mom and if he had not hit her, their three year old son would not be alive today. The mom ended up in the ER with a concussion but thankfully survived.
Thanks to the Ring Neighbors APP and responsible neighbors the perpetrator was caught the next day by the FFX police. It does take a Village!
Mason District police refused to return my numerous calls as to my concerns that this vehicle was making ongoing visits on my street. After a month, I finally received a return call from the FFX County Police Chief. My argument with him was that I kept seeing the vehicle on my street after the incident and that the police were not doing their job by allowing this vehicle and driver to continue to terrorize the neighborhood. Their lack of communications by not responding to my many phone messages, emails and a visit to the Mason District Station was infuriating. My only recourse has been to vote for my cat in lieu of the current FFX County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
I’m rooting for your cat vax.
I would have seriously considered voting for your tabby if you shared the option with your fellow commenters here earlier.
I literally wrote-in “my cat” under commonwealth attorney today. I was inspired by vax’s comment.
If GT22053553-00 is the correct case number – Nothing happened. Nolle Prosequi.
Since when? …”Gross has been a steadfast proponent of trails and sidewalks that serve and connect Mason District communities.” I’ve lived her 20+ years. Mason District is just as dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists as it was 20 years ago. There are some new bike lanes/ sidewalks but only on roads that were easy targets. And those don’t connect to anything. There is no where to safely cross LRT for nearly a mile on the eastern end. There are multiple parts of LRT where there is no sidewalk at all and zero dedicated bike/ped trail the entire length. Braddock and Backlick RDs are straight out of the 70s with zero pedestrian or cyclist improvements in 50+ years. VDOT is spending millions of dollars to upgrade Braddock from outside the beltway to Ravensworth where everything abruptly ends: exactly where Mason District starts. None of the few trails that do exist connect to major trails that can take you all around FFX county. I’m not sure why Sleepy Hollow is on its second major overhaul. I’m not sure why. It already had end to end bikelanes and safe walking areas for pedestrians. The even nicer bike lane being built still doesn’t connect to any other trails and no one can even get to SH on a bike safely. Columbia Pike is too dangerous and has no pedestrian crossings the entire length in Mason District. 7 corners on a bike? Seriously? And don’t even get me started on the non-existent rapid transit here. So exactly where are these improvements?
Agree Carolyn. I have lived here since 1991 and if there was a public champion of adding bike trails, public transportation, and pedestrian walkways, I haven’t seen it. Gallows Rd is a mess and dangerous for cyclists and Columbia Pike has more jaywalking than NYC. We’ve lost bus routes, rather than gain public transportation options. I look forward to real progress.
From personal experience, there were large gaps on Sleepy Hollow that made me uncomfortable when walking it and I welcome the new sidewalks and pedestrian crossing zones. I imagine it will get used more if/when the Seven Corners reconfiguration/redevelopment materializes.
But to your larger point – I agree with your frustrations.
I support this development because the whole area lacks safe exercise paths separate from transit and city issues like unsafe crossings, pollution and crowds.
The adjacent Lincolnia area is even worse and lacks foot access to safe walking trails for exercise and peaceful rejuvenation. Connecting the trails would extend the options for safe walking areas. I would also suggest small pedestrian safety enhancements at crossings, such as speed bumps, ‘children at play’ signs, and even…(overhead pedestrian bridges?).
Funny, I’ve biked/walked uneventfully to/from/between all these sites plus Americana park & Cross County trail (and others along this corridor and beyond it) since at least 2019. The service road that parallels westbound 236 and the residential streets on 236’s north & south sides were the keys to my successful navigation. Plenty of buses along 236 to fill in the gaps or traverse longer distances.
I agree that there is no need for more bike paths. Riding a bike next to drivers on our poor infrastructure is inherently dangerous which is why the bike paths running along roads in our area receive little use. We do not have a Mediterranean climate. We do not live in Venice beach. This is a place to work for a few years and get out if and when you can.
Many of our neighborhoods in Mason District are 60 years old. EVERY house in this district has been upgraded and remodeled. Homeowners have completely gutted their kitchens, baths, and basements. We’ve installed windows and doors, added insulation, and upgraded our HVAC systems. Collectively, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into our homes to bring them up to date. YET — our neighborhoods have never been updated / remodeled. The same terrible streets, the same terrible crossings, the same terrible transportation infrastructure exists in Annandale as it did when the community was first developed around the automobile two generations ago. No new bike trails. No new pedestrian crosswalks. No new sidewalks. It’s time we have a Supervisor who looks out for the best interests of our community, and who realizes and works for us to ensure that our infrastructure is remodeled for the modern times — for the safety of our residents, to increase the quality of our lives, and to address the potential environmental catastrophe we face as a species.
I was with you until that last sentence. Woke green cult garbage in Annandale won’t move the needle at all. If you’re honest with yourself, you know this to be true. If the entire state of Virginia ceased all carbon emissions tomorrow, our collective ‘predicament’ you inferred would not improve one millionth of a percent. Fact. It’s simply virtue signaling.
On the other hand, safer roads, street lighting, real crosswalks with lights, police enforcement of existing laws… these are all entirely attainable improvements that would drastically improve quality of life for all of us. We pay a fortune in property taxes and get very little in return.
I agree, Tina. Many priorities are no priorities. If people want to drive a car that gets good mileage, or pick up some trash, wonderful.
But I expect my elected officials to know where to focus. The recent fads of the last couple years that have infiltrated local politics have been severely damaging – BLM, vaccines, teachers being heroes, shutting down schools, forcing mask wearing, defunding the police, gay rights, standing with Ukraine, now standing with Palestine. None of this has any place in local politics. Instead of all that nebulous, fake garbage, how about safe, clean neighborhoods, high performing schools, and supporting local businesses.
Love it–the more green the better.