County to look at potential trail connecting Huntington, MV Trail

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck has asked the county to study the possibility of a trail connection that would link a planned trail along Cameron Run in Huntington with an already existing path on the east side of Richmond Highway in the North Gateway area.

The theoretical connection would allow for cyclists and pedestrians to have a continuous trail between the Telegraph Road end of Huntington all the way to the Mount Vernon Trail in the city of Alexandria.

Storck made the request at last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, directing county planners to include a look at the potential trail connection as part of a larger comprehensive amendment study of road configurations and parcel consolidation in the Huntington and North Gateway areas. The study is looking at improvements to the intersections of Richmond Highway and Fort Hunt Road and Richmond Highway and Huntington Avenue, as well as the possibility of vacating Old Richmond Highway.

The comprehensive plan study was ordered by the Board of Supervisors in September 2018.

Storck said in an interview Saturday that the potential connection has been something he’s been looking at since the beginning of the Huntington Levee project, which will include a connected trail along Cameron Run once it’s completed later this year. He said he’s unsure of how hard the trail connection would be due to a few challenges, including low clearance underneath the Richmond Highway overpass at Cameron Run,

“This is to get staff to work with VDOT to study it and find out how much it’d cost to do,” Storck said.

The Ourisman dealership property along Richmond Highway is another potential obstacle to the trail connection, but Storck said he’s already talked with the owner, who is open to allowing a trail to run along the edge of the property from the Riverside Apartments, according to Storck.

The Riverside Apartments property itself is currently inaccessible, but a redevelopment plan approved by the county in 2017 envisions a more open property, including a publicly accessible park along Cameron Run. The park’s trail will connect with the Huntington Levee trail once completed.