The Virginia Capital Trail (VCT) (informally, the ''Cap Trail'', or simply ''the Cap'') is a dedicated, paved bicycle and pedestrian

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

crossing four counties and between Jamestown and

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

— that is, between the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

's first ''capital'' and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

's current ''capital'', with an alternate end (via an extension) at Williamsburg, the last colonial capital. Construction began in 2006 and completed to Jamestown in October 2015. With the Williamsburg extension, the blacktop ribbon extends approximately 62 miles, and attracted 1.2 million users in 2021. The VCT largely parallels Virginia Route 5, a Virginia Scenic Byway, with its own physically separated, asphalt-paved lane — including on the Dresser Bridge over the

Chickahominy River The Chickahominy is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Virginia. The river, which serves as the eastern bo ...

. Its zero mile marker at Jamestown is directly adjacent to

Jamestown Settlement Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, created in 1957 as Jamestown Festival Park for the 350th anniversary celebration. Today it includes a recreation of the original James Fort (c. 1607 to 1614 ...

and near the foot of the

Colonial Parkway Colonial Parkway is a scenic parkway linking the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. It is part of the National Park Service's Colonial National Historical Park. Virginia's official state cla ...

— a scenic road linking Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. The trail, which crosses Route 5 at marked intersections, ranges in width from eight to ten feet (2.4 to 3.0 m) and is dedicated exclusively to non-motorized pedestrian and bicycle use, with a vegetation barrier separating it from the automobile road. Many sections pass through woods, and terrain varies from mostly flat near Jamestown to mostly rolling hills near Richmond, and includes about 30 wood bridges crossing streams and marshy areas. At Varina, near Richmond, the trail passes through Four Mile Creek Park and makes a 3.5-mile horseshoe-shaped diversion around the Route 5 and I295 interchange. At Richmond, the trailhead is next to the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

at the downtown flood gates of Great Shiplock Park. The VCT is a working partnershiphttp://www.virginiadot.org/projects/newcaptrail_welcome.asp of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation (VCTF), a tax exempt organization which promotes the path, and the

Virginia Department of Transportation The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the agency of the state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. VDOT is headquartered at the Virginia Department of Highways Building in downtown ...

(VDOT), which built and maintains it. As discussed below, the VCT was largely purpose-built over 12 years as a multi-use trail, with a small portion near downtown Richmond converted from a previous rail bed. The trail cost approximately $75 million to construct — with approximately $70 million from federal funding and $5 million from state and local funding. VDOT maintains a system of seven realtime trail counters, which received 550,000 counts its first completed year and more than 1,4 million counts as of mid-2018 — with a daily average of 300.

Development history

In 2003, Virginia's Secretary of Transportation (now former state delegate),

Whitt Clement Whittington Whiteside "Whitt" Clement (born November 15, 1947) is a Virginia lawyer and Democratic politician who served seven terms in the Virginia House of Delegates (1988–2002) and also became the Virginia Secretary of Transportation under ...

, a

Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activity ...

native, noticed the Danville Riverwalk Trail benefited the local economy. Clement developed financial support for the VCT, an idea that been developing for more than a dozen years, and developed bipartisan support to have an area adjacent to Route 5 surveyed. He subsequently founded Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, a nonpartisan advocacy partner to provide expertise, raise public awareness, seek funding and contributions as well as to promote the trail. The project received the support of the state's four successive Virginia governors. According to the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, the trail generated $8.9 million in economic activity in fiscal year 2018–19, and in 2020 had 1.2 million visitors, an increase of 42% over 2019. The only other multimodal path in Virginia to receive more visitors annually is the

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

oceanfront boardwalk. * 1975: The Commonwealth Transportation Board designates Route 5 as the Commonwealth's second Virginia Byway. * 1991: Formal legislation recommends including bicycle lanes on Route 5 and preserving the scenic character of Route 5. * 1996: VDOT requests proposals to study a bicycle path between Williamsburg and Richmond. * 1997: VDOT initiates feasibility study. * 1999: Feasibility study completed, with a preferred trail alignment along Route 5. * 2003: Whitt Clement obtains initial funding. VDOT begins a survey of the proposed trail. * 2004: Federal enhancement funds are received for the first two segments of the trail in James City County. Preliminary design begins. * September 2004: Formation of Virginia Capital Trail Foundation. * 2005: Private and commercial land acquisition negotiations begin. * July 2005: Groundbreaking of the Greensprings section. * 2006: Opening of the Greensprings portion. * August 2007: Groundbreaking of the Richmond Riverfront section. * 2008: Groundbreaking of the 8-mile Charles City County section. * April 2009: Approval of designs for a trail signage system and the first trailhead in James City County. * December 2009: Opening of the first Richmond Downtown section. * March 2010: Opening of the Jamestown Trailhead. * May 2012: Groundbreaking of the Sherwood Forest section. * October 2013: Opening of the Great Shiplock Park trailhead at downtown Richmond. * October 2014: Opening of the Sherwood Forest section. * October 2015: Opening of the completed trail.

Sections

Mileage is signaled in single mile markers along the trail in seven groups, color coded to sections which roughly reflect construction phases, here listed from Jamestown to Richmond: * Greensprings (2.4 miles - open 2006) *Chickahominy (4.8 miles - open 2007) *

Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England, famous because of its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood. The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cores ...

(13 miles – open 2014) * Charles City Courthouse (7.3 miles – open 2009) * New Market Heights (10.3 miles – open 2015) * Varina (11.3 miles – open 2015; parking available at Four Mile Creek Park and Dorey Park near I-295 intersection) *Richmond Riverfront (.8 miles and 1.5 miles, open 2010 and 2015)

Williamsburg and other expansion plans

Despite the VCTF's desire to connect Richmond and Williamsburg, the VCT currently has its eastern terminus in Jamestown, and does not extend to Williamsburg. Users can reach Williamsburg by the Colonial Parkway or other routes without a dedicated pedestrian or bike lane. A dedicated trail connecting mile marker zero of the VCT and Williamsburg is under study as the Birthplace of America Trail (BoAT) — envisioned as two, thirty mile trails connecting the VTC with both a proposed

South Hampton Roads Trail South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

and a trail to

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

. Another expansion is planned to connect to the planned Appomattox River Trail, a 9.9 mile moderately trafficked pedestrian, bicycle and pet-friendly trail near

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

. A projected North-South multi-purpose trail, the

Fall Line Trail The Fall Line Trail (FLT) is an approximately 43 mile multi-use trail currently under development — from a northern terminus in Ashland, Virginia to a southern terminus in Petersburg, Virginia. Early in its development, the trail had bee ...

, is projected to cross the VCT near Richmond.

Accessibility, amenities and awards

Amenities along the largely rural, wheelchair-accessible path include parking areas, restrooms, shelters, fix-it stations with tethered tools and air pumps — as well as private restaurants, gas stations, food vendors, bike rental and tour companies. Points of interest include parks and wildlife habitats as well as numerous prominent historic monuments, buildings (including former homes of Presidents John Tyler, William Henry Harrison, and Benjamin Harrison), plantations (including

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

and

Berkeley Plantation Berkeley Plantation, one of the first plantations in America, comprises about on the banks of the James River on State Route 5 in Charles City County, Virginia. Berkeley Plantation was originally called Berkeley Hundred, named after the Berkele ...

Westover Church Westover Church is a historic church located west of Charles City off Virginia State Route 5 in Charles City, Virginia, United States. It was built in 1731 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Theodorick Bland of Westo ...

and the Upper Shirley Vineyards). 44 historical markers along the route describe 400 years of political, social, military, and economic history. Near Richmond the trail passes through an area of riverfront

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the o ...

developments where former industrial factories have been converted to loft apartments and offices. Before ending under flyovers of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

near Richmond's

Shockoe Bottom Shockoe Bottom (also known historically as Shockoe Valley) is an area in Richmond, Virginia, just east of downtown, along the James River. Located between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill, Shockoe Bottom contains much of the land included in Colone ...

area, the trail passes through ''The Low Line'', a landscaped linear park under an active, elevated

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

rail trestle. A private shuttle services partial or one-way users. The Virginia Capital Trail Foundation hosts an annual fund raiser bike ride, marketed as ''The Cap2Cap.'' As of early 2019, more than 50 trained volunteers serve as Capital Trail Ambassadors — identifying hazards (gravel, poor signage, etc.) and providing information, directions, mechanical assistance and minor medical attention. The trail is part of the 4,228-mile

TransAmerica Trail U.S. Bicycle Route 76 (USBR 76) is a cross-country bicycle route east of Colorado in the United States. It is one of the two original U.S. Bicycle Routes, the other being U.S. Bicycle Route 1. USBR 76 runs from the Midwestern state of Kansas ...

as well as the ''Historic Coastal Route'' of the

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

. In 2016, the VCT won the

Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI advocates progressive development, conducting research, and education in topics such as s ...

's ''Lingerfelt Award for Best Overall Project'' and the ULI's award for ''Best Community Impact'' — as well as

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

's Excellence in Virginia Government ''Public-Private Partnership Award.'' In 2017, the trail received the Scenic Virginia ''Scenic Tourism Award''.

References

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External links