VDOT Gives Fairfax City Deadline To Approve Or Cancel George Snyder Trail Plan

Correction: This story was updated with the correct concessionaire funding total.

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — The Virginia Department of Transportation has given the Fairfax City Council a June 30 deadline to decide whether to move forward with construction of the George Snyder Trail project with the approved alignment or cancel the project altogether and pay $3.7 million in concessionaire funding

Bill Cuttler, VDOT's Northern Virginia District engineer, relayed that message in a May 12 letter to Mayor Catherine S. Read, which she read at the beginning of Tuesday night's council meeting.

VDOT's decision was based on testimony given by city residents at the May 8 public hearing for the Six Year Improvement Plan, discussing an alternative plan that VDOT had not approved.

"After careful consideration and evaluation of current circumstances, it has become apparent that providing a time extension to the end of the year is no longer viable," Cuttler said, in the letter. "We request that the City reach a decision to either cancel the project or move forward with the approved project by June 30, 2025."

A decision to cancel the project would not prevent the city from applying for funding for a trail project that better addresses the city's needs, according to the letter. However, canceling the project comes with consequences.

"Please keep in mind if the project cannot be completed in accordance with the executed agreements by VDOT and the City of Fairfax, project expenditure to date are subject to payback," he said. "Also, the cancelled project's unspent allocations cannot be transferred to other City projects. The unspent allocations will go back to the I-66 Concession Fee balance entry account."

Also See: Controversial George Snyder Trail Project Delayed

In 2017, NVTA awarded $17 million to the city to fund the George Snyder Trail project as part of the overall Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project.

As approved, the George Snyder Trail Project would "expand regional trail network by constructing 1.4 miles of trail along Accotink Creek between Draper Drive and the new I-66 trail at the Route 123 Interchange."

Although the city had taken steps in recent years to move the project forward, such as acquiring properties along the approved trail alignment, many residents have voiced their strong opposition to the project during city council meetings.

Opponents of the trail said that the city would lose more than 7 to 8 acres of wooded habitat, which would cause erosion and lead to more stormwater runoff. With the removal of more than 1,200 mature trees, carbon levels in the air would also increase significantly.

The council voted unanimously during April 8 meeting on a motion not to advertise the controversial George Snyder Trail Project in its present form. This was meant to allow city staff more time to consider an alternative trail alignment by Dec. 31. That's the previous deadline VDOT had given the city to submit its construction documents ready to bid, if the city decided to construct the project.

A discussion of the alternative alignment plan was on Tuesday night's city council work session agenda.