Ribbon-Cutting Celebrates Opening Of New Trail To Burke Centre VRE Station

BURKE, VA — Burke residents joined Fairfax County officials on Sunday to celebrate the completion of the Burke Centre VRE Trail Project, a new paved path that will provide pedestrians and bicyclists with easier access to the Virginia Railway Express station.

The new trail to the Burke Centre VRE Station also will give residents a direct connection to the existing Burke VRE Trail east of the station, which was completed in 2008.

By providing easier access to the VRE station, officials hope to increase ridership on the rail system, Fairfax County Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Sunday.

The Burke Centre station is served by the VRE Manassas Line, as well as a daily Amtrak Northeast Regional round trip.

Officials are hoping to double ridership on VRE over the next 20 years through the scheduling of more trains, along with weekend and evening service, to help people get out of their cars and onto public transit, said Walkinshaw, who serves as the principal member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission's VRE Operations Board.

The trail also will make it easier for residents to access the Burke Farmers Market on the east side of the VRE station. In 2022, the farmer's market is scheduled to run Wednesday through Sunday each week starting Saturday, April 16.

Construction of the $1.2 million project — funded entirely by Fairfax County through a transportation bond that passed in 2014 — began in March 2021 and was completed earlier this month. The Fairfax County Department of Transportation and the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services oversaw the project.

"Everyone was enthusiastic and wanted to make this the best possible project, and I think we did that," Walkinshaw said.

In his remarks, Walkinshaw thanked many of the people who made the project a reality, including Tom Biesiadny, director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation; Chris Wells, program manager at FCDOT; and Deepak Bhinge, project manager at the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.

At Sunday's ceremony, state Sen. David Marsden (D-37th), who serves as the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and is an avid bicyclist, welcomed the completion of the project, saying it is one more example of why Fairfax County is "the greatest place in America."

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, officials walked the length of the new 1,200-foot-long asphalt trail from Premier Court on the west side of the VRE station into the neighborhood around Oak Bluff Court.

The project also included the construction of a 600-foot-long concrete sidewalk along Premier Court, on-road bicycle lanes, and a crosswalk to an existing sidewalk that will help people access the Burke Centre VRE Station. Other infrastructure enhancements included retaining walls, a drainage system to support the trail, curb and gutter, and parking modifications.

Rinker Design Associates, based in Manassas, and Sagres Construction Corp. of Alexandria were the engineering and construction contractors for the project.