Opposition remains adamant over proposed bike path route

Members of a Charles City County church’s congregation remain opposed to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s preferred route for its Virginia Capital Trail bike path project, which passes directly in front of the church and bisects both entrances to the church’s parking lot.

An alternate proposal now under consideration reroutes the bike path behind Parrish Hill Baptist Church, but congregation members are stopping short of conferring their blessing.

Church officials and members voiced opinions during a VDOT-hosted April 1 public meeting on the proposed route. About 60 people attended the informal session held inside the county’s government building.

At issue is a short section of what is dubbed the Sherwood Forest Phase, just over 12 miles stretching from Charles City Courthouse to the Route 5 Chickahominy River Bridge at the James City County line.

VDOT’s preferred path follows the south side of Route 5 from the courthouse, passes in front of the church, and crosses over to the north side about a half-mile east of the church. From there the bike route continues along the north side all the way to the bridge.

Church officials contend that a better solution is for the path to cross to the north side just east of the courthouse on a straightaway near Haupt’s Country Store. VDOT officials, however, say that option is too expensive.

Safety is the main reason why Parrish Hill members want the bike path built on the north side, said church deacon Norman Edwards. Entrances to the church parking lot are on a curve, thus an unsafe situation exists with motor vehicles pulling off Route 5 and encountering bicycle traffic, especially during funerals and church services, he said.

“My question is why not take the money [VDOT] would spend for property [on the south side] and use that to put the bike path on the north side,” he said.

Edwards said if the north side alternative is not feasible, then the next best solution is to route the path behind the church. But Yvonne Jones, the church’s clerk, said going behind the church also presents problems.

The route would follow an existing dirt road that leads to the church’s cemetery, located a few hundred feet to the rear of the church and behind several houses that front Route 5. Then the path would turn abruptly left at the cemetery and come back out to Route 5 at the intersection with Weyanoke Road (Route 619).

Jones said there could be adverse impact on funerals, and there could be a safety issue since a hunt club owns land adjacent to the cemetery.

“I’m just concerned about safety if there are kids going back there,” she said. “Then where it comes back out to Route 5, it crosses a busy secondary road [Route 619] that generates a lot of traffic.”

Jones lives a short distance away and the proposed bike route crosses her property, however she is not opposed to the overall bike path concept.

“It’s coming right through my yard and I don’t care. I’m all for it,” she said. “I’m just concerned about everybody’s safety.”

Charles Haupt, who owns and operates Haupt’s Country Store, is another proponent. The preferred route taking away a section of his store’s parking lot is of no concern, he said.

“I’m 100 percent for it and I always have been,” he said. “Either side of the road would be fine. Any reason to change would be good, too.”

Time for public comment, meanwhile, has ended. All comments now head to the project’s chief engineer and eventually to the Commonwealth Transportation Board. A final decision on the bike path route rests with the CTB. VDOT project manager Emily Peter said the CTB is expected to consider the matter during its June meeting with a decision announced by July.

Cost of VDOT’s preferred south side option is pegged at $802,000 with $273,000 of that figure being sunk into a bridge to cross Parrish Hill Creek, which flows under Route 5 just west of the church.

For a north side route, the price tag more than doubles, VDOT officials say, to over $1.7 million. Most of the increase is due to a more complex bridge estimated to cost close to $1.2 million.

“A timber bridge is all that’s needed on the south side, but on the north side, we’d have to install concrete footings and piers and it would be about 260 feet longer than the south side alignment,” Peter said.

Building a bridge on the north side would also require closing Route 5 to traffic for eight months up to a year while construction is under way, she said. Motorists heading east and west would be forced to detour along The Glebe Lane (Route 615) and Sturgeon Point Road (Route 614).

The third option, rerouting behind the church, is estimated to cost close to $934,000 or about $132,000 more than VDOT’s preferred route in front of the church. So far, VDOT has neither surveyed the area nor conducted archeological studies, Peter said.

Both the north side and behind the church options are expected to add six months to the overall project’s time line, she added.

If the south side route is approved, VDOT plans to seek bids in June 2010. Construction work is then expected to take about 15 months, Peter said.

VDOT is in the process of finishing a 7.1-mile segment between Route 106 and the courthouse. Work is slated for completion in July. A target date of December 2013 stands now for the entire 55-mile route that will connect Richmond and Jamestown.