Major infrastructure project will enhance recreational opportunities and transportation options on Virginia’s Eastern Shore
CAPE CHARLES, VA — Local officials and community leaders gathered for a ceremonial groundbreaking to launch construction of a significant new addition to the Eastern Shore Rail Trail system. The new five-mile segment will create a crucial connection between Cape Charles and Cheriton, marking a major milestone in the region’s ongoing efforts to develop recreational infrastructure and alternative transportation options.
According to Ron Wolff, Executive Director of the Eastern Shore Rail Trail Foundation, the project represents years of planning and collaboration between multiple agencies and organizations. The new trail segment promises to enhance both recreational opportunities for residents and visitors while providing practical transportation alternatives for the growing Eastern Shore community.
The trail will begin near Rayfield’s Pharmacy, where construction will include a dedicated trailhead and parking facility to accommodate trail users. In a forward-thinking approach to multimodal transportation, STAR Transit will install a bus shelter at the same location, allowing cyclists to utilize buses equipped with bike racks to access different sections of the trail system.
From the trailhead, the paved path will follow the historic railroad right-of-way eastward alongside Stone Road, preserving the area’s transportation heritage while serving modern recreational needs. The route will then turn south along Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) right-of-way toward the traffic signal at Atlantic Union Bank.
One of the project’s key safety features will be the crossing at U.S. Route 13, where the trail will intersect at the Food Lion intersection. VDOT will install push-button pedestrian crossings on both sides of the busy highway, ensuring safe passage for cyclists and pedestrians. The trail will conclude at Sunnyside Drive, providing multiple access points for community members.
This expansion represents a significant investment in the Eastern Shore’s recreational infrastructure and demonstrates the region’s commitment to promoting healthy, sustainable transportation alternatives. The Eastern Shore Rail Trail system has become increasingly popular among both locals and tourists, offering scenic routes through the area’s distinctive coastal landscape.
The groundbreaking ceremony featured local officials and stakeholders who have championed the project’s development, highlighting the collaborative effort required to bring this vision to reality. Construction is expected to proceed over the coming months, with completion anticipated to further boost the area’s appeal as a destination for outdoor recreation and eco-tourism.
The project is costing millions of dollars and will require a substantial future ongoing cost to maintain it.
The project involves a massive use of land in our area. It serves such a small group of people with its restrictions. Public resources and dollars spent per citizen served is the worse example I have ever seen in using tax dollars.
Open up the trail as public space, period. Anyone can use it for anything they choose. That includes horses, roller skates, golf carts, motorized and battery toys and walking on stilts and pogo sticks. Put in speed limit controlling guidelines and let it be enjoyed by a great deal of the public as a massive use of resources and public funds calls for.
We have plenty of laws and lawyers to handle those that insist on being stupid. Just like everything else.
What is the substantial future ongoing cost to maintain going to be? You seem to be in the know. How about some figures?
What exactly are the dollars spent per citizen? You seem to be in the know. How about some figures?
How much land is being used? You seem to be in the know. How about some figures?
At the Town Council meeting two weeks ago when this was addressed, the Town Council asked ex Town Manager Alaska John the following two questions:
1) will there be trees over hanging the trail?
2) would we (CC) be responsible for potholes etc?
Both of which were yes – but at no time did anyone ask how many man hours per week/month this would cost. Not a single reasonable business question about cost.
Why? Because the Cape Charles Town Council doesn’t deal with real issues. All they do is spend money on consultants, cut deals for good ole boys, and plan fun things like parades and 5ks. Useless to the needs of common people.
RESIGN TOWN COUNCIL
Wow, you bicyclists sure are touchy.
Any paved surface requires maintenance. We used to be a Country that knew stuff like that.
They dress in spandex and shave their legs….just like girls.
Step 1 of many steps. In the short term, it may look like a road to nowhere. But it has potential. If it were up to me, I would prioritize completing the trail from Cheriton proper (and not just the outskirts) down to the confluence of the Bay and the seaside. There are plenty of open spaces and so not a lot of locals to use it, but it at least offers a fun way to get somewhere. And to that end, this is mainly about eco-tourism and tourism is the economic engine for this area, whether you like it or not. You may poo-poo what your legacy has become, it is just that you plainly can not say what the alternative would have looked like. Once the CBBT was built, the lot was cast. You should know that.
All I can say is, instead of bellyaching of what was is no longer, how about getting in line and build an east coast (albeit less impressive) version of Carmel, CA? It has potential. And yes, I realize the big worry is the aquifer and draining it to untenable levels. But it isn’t like there isn’t a vast supply of water. It just has to be desalinated. It isn’t cheap but it IS there to be used. It just needs vision.
Oh, and there has to be one key piece to make it work: grade-separated crossings of Rt 13. If that is not in the plans, this whole thing is a total boondoggle. You can’t be partially pregnant. You are either in it or you are not. I say…go for it. There really is nothing like this on the east coast. JMHO
Potential? Why stop at the trail? Why not make it like, Long Island? Water issues? Desalination! Now that’s not cheap! But an arrogant viewpoint (because “it’s there”) at viable solution, … at what cost? Open land that’s not used. No problem, fill it in.
Open land is not always suitable for development. Most is only stable enough for farmland use (learn your history about the Eastern Shore of Virginia).
Crossing Rt. 13, hell build an overpass!
You want it to look like Carmel, CA. Sure, why not? Then all the people will leave because of corruption and high taxes. Just like California. How many millions of taxpayers dollars will it cost? Why build it, when it will not be used by the majority of people that will have to paid for it?
People like going to the shore, to get away from the big tourist destinations. Why do you want to change everything? Just come to the shore and relax. Don’t make there, look like here.
My viewpoint is different from yours. I used to care about how fast things have changed in Cape Charles. Not any more. Hell you can build another bridge tunnel leading directly to CC. Build a wall around CC to keep people who think like me out. I don’t care. But when that town trys to build outside of the town limits and it cost me money. I will speak my mind. I still own land on the shore and don’t want my taxes to go up like Cape Charles.
Your mind set is that of a child. You want things that are shining and new. But you haven’t considered the cost and who it will serve. It’s not a necessity.
Hear! Hear!!
Did your rant make you feel better? I presume you are one of those “always been here” types. Question, are you old enough to remember when the CBBT was built? Do you recall “the good old days”? How about the 90s when the economy took a real toll and it was a Mid-Atlantic version of a desert ghost town? See any of the relics from those days? Recall the days when someone decided unilaterally to eliminate the relics, also known as a serial arsonist?
Now, were you around when some folks in and around CC embraced probably the only viable option to salvage it all before it became the Sahara Desert and went the tourist (and retirees) model? Question, is the economy (I did NOT say “quality of life”) in and around CC better than when the change in philosophy took place in earnest? And if you say “no” then you are being disingenuous. Now, what is a better (albeit not necessarily more lucrative) option than basic tourism? Eco-tourism? Question, even though this is a tangent, do you recall “the good old days” when watermen got their goods from the water grown by nature and not from a “farm”? Is this an abomination also or is it a better economic model? Question, what is the difference? You receive monies from silly folk buying high-priced seafood and you get it from folks who want to visit the countryside in whatever way they want. Your impression of desalination is limited, and really no different than aquaculture. If there is a demand, there WILL be buyers, at the price that works for everyone.
There are only so many folks who want to kayak (if for no other reason than to keep them off jet skis) or bird watch. As I said, you can’t be partially pregnant. If you are going to be a tourist destination then do it. And as I posted, if you do it correctly, THEN you will expand the economy. BUT, if you do it poorly then the bike trail is going to be a huge boondoggle. As I see it, the folks who are going to ride the entire distance over and over is going to be minimal. But if you build a gold-standard facility in and around CC and Cheriton – and take it all the way to the confluence – then you have something that both the tourists/eco-tourists AND the locals will use.
Question, do you own a motor vehicle that takes you everywhere or do you live in a place where all you can do is walk? If you only walk, would it not be nice to have the option to safely go somewhere without getting killed by motorists? And if you are strictly a motorist yourself…aren’t you nothing but a pot calling a kettle black? How about this, why not fund buying each and every citizen who is old enough who lives in Northampton County a motorized vehicle, and include the maintenance and fuel? And don’t complain when they clog up “your roads” with their inane driving.
Face the facts. The Eastern Shore isn’t a one-horse town, it is plainly a one-route (seaside is not a true route) transportation facility. Why are you so against having something akin to a second option? Because you are righteous? Talk about being childish.
Please stay in Richmond.
You voted for Kamal-Toe Harris, didn’t you? Bless your Heart.
You Sir, are a fool.
Its not a rant, it’s common sense.
Mr. Jay of Richmond, I like to go line to line on your comments. But it would be only a different opinion than yours.
I do remember a lot of things. I used to come over on the ferry. I even met the Capt of that ferry 50 plus years later.
WITH AGE COMES WISDOM.
When you presume to know someone. You will often be wrong. I respect the places I visit and leave things as they are. I don’t try to make things look like where I come from. What will be the point of leaving there?
Your comment, “if there is a demand, there will be buyers at the price that works for everyone ” What a stupid comment! Prove that comment!
Are you thinking about people on fix income? Or just the elite that live in Fairfax and Richmond?
Not everyone can afford the bullshit this town shovels. The town sold it’s water utilities to a company that has a history of raising it’s service by 30%.
You want to build a new town hall? How many millions of dollars is that going to cost? What happened to the old high school in town? It was being used as a civic center. Oh that’s right, the town sold it for $10. It would have been a great place for a town hall.
KNOW YOUR HISTORY ABOUT CAPE CHARLES, JAY FROM RICHMOND. There is a lot more.
Your bike trail is another boondoggle. Just spend, spend for the tourist that will only be here for a short time.
The town is competing with places like VB and OC, who already have these amenities and much more. Does your eco-tourism taking these localities into consideration?
How is the town going to afford this when the tourist leave? Taxpayers flipping the bill I bet!?
This trail is only a nicety not a necessity.
We do agree on one thing. How does one cross Rt.13 safely?
Well, the only viable solution is to build an overpass. And who will pay for it?
This is typical thinking of the government officials in Cape Charles. Just kick the can down the road and we’ll see what happens next. No viable end to the project.
How does Monument avenue looking in Richmond … Jay? You eliminated the monuments to Southern Heritage, and tourist left. When do you teardown the homes on Monument Ave? Don’t worry, the tourist will be back once you build a bike trail.
Come on, Man.
You sir should have been swallowed.
Let the people with common sense speak.
Good day, sir.
“How does Monument avenue looking in Richmond … Jay? You eliminated the monuments to Southern Heritage, and tourist left.”
No they didn’t. Where you pulling your made up facts from? KNOW YOUR FACTS ABOUT RICHMOND, DOUG!
“Robert E. Lee, last monument to be removed from monument Ave”, Richmond, Va. My sources, wikipedia.or., Richmond times dispatch, local news outlets.
Don’t be a schmuck like your brother.
Get your facts straight. You need a
better way to try to smear the truth.
The tourists didn’t leave genius. You can’t comprehend. Schmuck.
Again, it was not me who decided to take the tourism route, it appears as if it was you and yours who did. Why do you want to shoot the messenger? All I have stated in my comments, and all of “your types” have said is “please stop it”, is this is what you have to address. Stop what? A philosophy that was agreed to because the prospects were so bleak? Do you really have an option to stop the tide from rising or actually put the toothpaste back into the tube? Going back isn’t an option (and it never is), you have to find a path forward that gets you to a place you want, even if that path is different than originally planned.
Again…all I have said…plainly…is that if you go the tourism route, then go the tourism route and don’t attempt to be partially pregnant. And all I have said is that I see a route that has some merit. But it does have a cost (as does every choice). So, as I see it, you can rail against progress and slow things down to a slow death – see the 90s – or you can “go for it” but you have to do it wisely. Otherwise, what you are going to do is to not go far enough and then you will die a faster death. But make no mistake, death is death. Be bold or be weak? Your choice.
And if you read my posts, I am quite attuned to those who can not afford what many of us think is rudimentary. That is why I ask whether you are proposing funding them motor vehicles and the means to operate them, because motor vehicles are the only choice. Why not a win-win, where the eco-tourism economy can also provide an alternate transportation facility, albeit limited (I proposed CC/Cheriton and to the confluence and NOT to MD), to the locals with less-than-ideal means. Are you sure you are thinking of THEIR interests in your ideas? Really?
I am quite sure they would like to read them here in detail instead of rhetoric such as “stay in Richmond, moron”. Again, I am merely the messenger.
If I may address a point you made, most of your conversation involves what is happening in the civic circles of today. And it is apparent you do not agree for the most part. Question, have you formed a coalition of like-minded voters who will get “the proper folks” on the Town council (or the Supervisors board in the County) or do you mainly whine on the internet? And if the answer is “yes, but there are too many of ‘the other folks’ that counter our efforts”, well then, you need to accept that your idea of “quality of life” is not going to return. Just like the Native American Aboriginals who found they were politically minimized.
But if you think there are some fence-sitters who are not as enamored with “super-progress” as the folks in power or there are a bunch of oblivious citizens who need enlightening and education, what has your coalition done to get them to get on your side? Sit on the street corner and talk about “the good old days”? I got news for you, that was NEVER the system. You have to make the effort or else the tide WILL rise. It takes conviction and effort. Just ask any well meaning (and not bought and paid for) politician or politician wannabe.
Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news, if that is you.