Cowan Blvd. Trail To Extend

Cyclists, walkers and joggers in Fredericksburg will soon be able to more easily make human powered trips from the edge of downtown to Central Park. On Tuesday, the Fredericksburg City Council unanimously approved a $125,990 contract for Messer Contracting to extend the Cowan Blvd. trail from Stafford Avenue to the current trailhead at the intersection of Keeneland Road and Cowan Blvd. 

The new route will start in the vicinity of the Lawrence A. Davies Transit Center at Stafford Avenue in the College Heights neighborhood. The trail moves west from Stafford Avenue, crossing Jefferson Davis Highway at Cowan Blvd., which it follows to the existing trail.

Six different companies placed bids on the project, with costs ranging from $268,950 to $125,990, Messer's winning bid. 

The project is being mostly funded by an 80 percent, $110,870 VDOT Transportation Enhancement grant. Fredericksburg pays for 20 percent of the costs, a total of $27,718. 

City staff is still awaiting final contract approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation before work can begin. Once the contract is awarded, the project should be finished within 150 days, according to the contract.