ACCOMACK CO., Va. - The federal government has awarded nearly $23.5 million towards ongoing efforts to complete a biking and walking trail spanning Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The Eastern Shore Rail Trail project aims to replace miles of unused railroad tracks in disrepair with a continuous biking and walking trail, connecting numerous communities in both Northampton and Accomack Counties.
Executive Director of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Rail Trail Foundation Ron Wolff tells WBOC the foundation received word of the federal grant’s approval on Wednesday, Feb. 4. He says the latest injection of funding, awarded through the federal Highway Administration, will be solely applied to a stretch of trail planned between Birds Nest and Melfa.
Wolff says the Foundation applied for the funds at least two years ago, making Wednesday’s news of approval a welcome surprise.
The Eastern Shore Rail Trail Project began with acquiring funds for a stretch from Cape Charles to Cheriton. That first section, Wolff says, is now fully funded and is hoped to be completed by mid-summer. The second stretch would take the trail from Cheriton to Birds Nest, paving the way for the 17-mile Birds Nest-Melfa addition to begin quickly now that funding is secured.
Wolff tells WBOC that a fourth addition has already been funded and is awaiting completion of the first three stretches. That phase would see the trail extend from Melfa to Onley.
Eventually, the project is hoped to directly connect to at least Temperanceville, based on the Eastern Shore Rail Trail Foundation's website.
The ambitious project would not only provide new recreational opportunities on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, but provide a much-needed economic boost to towns along the trail, according to Wolff. The added foot and bicycle traffic could help bring new opportunities for tourism, dining, and shopping to communities that widely lost these advantages when the Eastern Shore’s once-booming railroad-based economy faded.
Wolff says the Rail Trail project not only adds the bike and walking path, but preserves the historic rail corridor should an expansive, interconnecting rail line ever return to Accomack and Northampton Counties.
For more information on the project, you can visit the Eastern Shore Rail Trail Foundation's website here.