Catching up: The Fall Line Trail is finding its way through Richmond
Name: The Fall Line Trail
Why you know it: The 43-plus mile trail from the City of Petersburg to the Town of Ashland is in various stages of completion, but has had some issues with where to place parts of it in Richmond.
What's happening now
Like the Virginia Capital Trail, the upcoming Fall Line Trail looks to mimic the same dynamics that makes the Cap a haven for a multitude of users. Both are (and will be) multi-use trails separated from traffic that weave through several localities and offer more than just recreation.
“People are using it all the time. We're seeing more businesses pop up along the trail. It's been such a healthy new thing for our community,” said Cat Anthony, outgoing executive director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation. “People need to understand that it's economic development.”
In all, the Fall Line will run just over 43 miles. Over the past two years, parts of the trail have seen shovels break ground in Bryan Park, as well as some completed sections in both Henrico and in Hanover counties, said Brantley Tyndall, director of BikeWalk RVA.
“Tons of people are out there,” Tyndall said. “Everyone is so thankful to have that trail in that part of our region. It really has been the focal point of our regional collaboration with this crossing various local borders. Everybody gets to celebrate this equally.”
In total, there are currently four completed sections, but only one, in Hanover, has a good chunk available for people to use without stopping.
It’s the four segments through Richmond that have seen the most hurdles, starting with the groundbreaking in Bryan Park in 2024. Local neighbors showed up to protest a proposed route through the park, and voiced concerned about the possible loss of trees and how trail users may affect other park users.
That seems to be all worked out now, said Mayor Danny Avula.
“Over the summer, one of the big hurdles we got over was finally making the decision and engaging, doing really robust community engagement, around the segment that is up in Bryan Park. There was a lot of pushback,” said Avula. “It's important that we hear that. But it was also important to see that there was so much more support for the proposed path through the park from a larger swath of the community.”
That segment should be completed in summer of 2026, said Dironna Moore Clarke, who leads the Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility.
“Construction starts in January,” said Clarke, adding that there are other Richmond sections in various stages of work too, including Kanawha Plaza. “We raised $4.6 million from our state trails office. The design is complete and we're waiting for [a] construction timeline. We're looking at how we enter into the plaza, while maintaining the revenue source that the park gets from its use from the community. We also have the Manchester Bridge segment moving along.”
Tyndall said that in 2026, people can expect to see more segments start to take shape.
“So in the next few months we're going to have ... about 20 miles under construction or at least under contract, " he said. “And something active or completed in every locality within the seven localities.”
