After two decades of work, bike advocates celebrate a final link in a Vienna and Tysons-area trail network

A web of trails snake through the Vienna and Tysons area in northern Virginia, but for decades, they didn’t connect to each other, and people even found it difficult to get to area parks by foot or bicycle. Residents set about changing this with a slew of new sidewalks, trails, and bridges designed to link parks and trails into what became the Northern Vienna Trail Network.

Now, after 20 years of work, residents are celebrating the final link in that network, and the culture shift that has come along with the improved infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.

After filling in connections to local parks and trails in four phases over the years, there was one last area that needed to be fixed: a dangerous stretch of road along Clarks Crossing and Hawthorne Ridge. The area lacks sidewalks and is dangerous for pedestrians and bikers alike. Years of negotiations didn’t yield any results, and the county eventually closed the project.

A volunteer walked the dangerous area with her children to highlight the need for a sidewalk there.

But local advocates decided to negotiate on their own—and their efforts were successful. In December 2018, Fairfax County signed an agreement with the person who owns the land, allowing a sidewalk to be built there. The project is in the design phase, and should be completed by 2021.

Better connections for people on bikes

Today the network links Meadowlark Botanical Gardens and nine other county parks, the W&OD Trail, and Wolf Trap National Park together. More broadly, it has made it easier for pedestrians and bicyclists to get around and between northern Vienna and Tysons.

“Twenty years ago, there was no good way to walk or bike along Beulah Road to access Meadowlark Botanical Gardens or other destinations along the road,” Bruce Wright, a board member of the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB), said via email. “Trail advocates in the community worked with Supervisor Hudgins, Congressman Moran, county staff, and others to encourage construction of what is now a nearly complete network of trails along Beulah Road, Meadowlark Road, and Clarks Crossing Road.”

In 2014, the Spring Hill Metro Station path linked the Vesper Trail to Tysons, a car-oriented, suburban place that’s working to become more urban. It was an important step in making Tysons more accessible to people commuting by bicycle, which it is working to do.

“Cyclists can ride from the W&OD trail to Meadowlark Gardens along with new trail connections. They can also ride from the W&OD Trail to Clark’s Crossing Road to a new connection on Beulah Road to Trap Road and other neighborhood streets to reach a trail connection to the Spring Hill Metro Station in Tysons,” Wright added. “FABB has supported this work over the years.”

Jeff Anderson, a former Wolf Trap-area resident and advocate for the NoVi Trail, saw firsthand how the improved connections impacted his and other kids in the neighborhood’s ability to get around. “It freed kids up,” Anderson said. “They could ride, scoot, or walk. Previous to that, [parents] would have to drive them. It freed them up to get where they want to go.”

In fact, Wolftrap Elementary school used to be only car- and bus-accessible, but now many children walk and bike to school.

“It’s amazing the amount of people who are out there now. It went from being cars and houses, to cars, houses, and people walking around,” Anderson added.

A trail advocate is born

The impetus for the 20-year project? In 1999, Northern Vienna resident Jenifer Joy Madden simply wanted to go to a park in her neighborhood, but couldn’t figure out how to get there.

“It started because I tried to take a walk in the park [Meadowlark Gardens] with my son,” Madden said in a phone interview. “The park’s not very far away—less than a mile—but it was a very dangerous proposition for us, not to mention we were trespassing on other people’s property, we thought. It was just an ordeal to get to the park because we had to plow through high grasses and travel on a road that was not very safe.”

Madden set to figuring out the best way to get to Meadowlark Gardens. As she was looking at a map of the area, Madden realized, “Wait a minute—we have other places nearby that we can’t get to by walking or biking, which is so silly. Why live in a neighborhood when you can’t walk or bike anywhere? It doesn’t make sense, especially with all these public facilities and beautiful parks.”

Thus began her decades-long journey, leading her to become an advocate and eventually join the Fairfax County Transportation Advisory Commission. Over the years she worked with various friends, volunteers, agencies like the Fairfax County Department of Transportation and the Virginia Department of Transportation, The National Park Service, and public officials to bring the network to fruition.

The first challenge was finding the money. Even when plans were coming into focus, local officials told her “we don’t have any money to do this with, because Fairfax County didn’t have a lot of money in its budget in those days.”

But, the biggest obstacle? “Trying to figure out how to do it,” Madden says. According to her the mindset shift about the importance of walkability and biking access hadn’t started yet, and she had to learn how to find grants, work with public officials, and get a feasibility study done.

Tysons became more connected to its neighbors

After teaching herself about land use, Madden discovered that there wasn’t a lot of planning going on in Tysons to connect to the surrounding community.

“I thought there was a possibility that Tysons would fail as a walkable, livable place if the only place you could walk and live was inside Tysons, which is actually a small place,” she said.

She set about changing that, and was eventually appointed to the Fairfax County Transportation Advisory Commission. There she advised Hunter Mill County Supervisor Catherine Hudgins about better ways to connect Tysons to the rest of the area.

With Metro coming in 2014, Madden and other transit supporters were on the advisory group which help shape the Tysons Metrorail Access Management Study. This study played a critical role in better connecting Tysons to its neighbors for people taking transit, bicycling, or walking.

Now, Madden, FABB, and others are celebrating the final steps of the Novi Trail Network. You’re welcome to join the party and bridge dedication this Sunday, September 29 from 2 to 4 pm.