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Response to Open Letter to Mayor and Council: George Snyder Trail

By Shelley Vance

I am responding to the article Open Letter to Mayor and Council: George Snyder Trail (Vol. 2 No. 5, May 2025) submitted by a city resident.

I, too, am a city resident and homeowner in the immediate neighborhood of the currently planned configuration of the George Snyder Trail (GST).

I disagree that there is an effort to stop the construction of the GST. I have been attending and speaking out at city council meetings regularly since 2023, and have met no one who is against implementing some bike trail connectivity between Route 123 and Fair Woods Pkwy, and east to connect with Draper Dr. at Fairfax Blvd. The choice is not a bike trail or not; it’s a question of the footprint of the GST.

For years, concerned citizens have been suggesting alternatives that preserve our trees by using Eaton Pl., Stafford Dr. Park, Stafford Dr., Cardinal Rd., Draper Dr. Park, and Fairfax Blvd. Just so you don’t think I am a NIMBY resident, my personal favorite has been along the segment of Cardinal Rd. that runs right in front of homes in my neighborhood where the GST is currently situated between Stafford Dr. and Cardinal (Ranger) Rd. Park. Cardinal Rd. is a paved street equipped with lights and no through traffic.

Among other advantages, these alternatives would prevent the disruption of our dwindling wetlands and the removal of roughly 600 trees over and above the nearly 500 that have recently been removed for the nearby stream restoration. (Contrary to the previous suggestion, no trees have yet been removed for the GST.)

I also think that the open letter misrepresented how pedestrians and bicyclists would both use a GST situated along Fairfax Blvd. I don’t believe the city is planning that the existing sidewalk will henceforth be used by bicyclists. The idea is to create a safe and parallel use if Fairfax Blvd is part of the ultimate configuration.

The city council voted 6-0 to pause the GST implementation in order for city staff to develop alternative GST configurations, and VDOT has agreed to consider them.

We all do better when we have a better trail.

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