The RVA Big Market is held Saturdays in Bryan Park. (Photo by Jay Paul)
With Richmond City Hall facing pushback against the planned segment of a regional trail crossing through Bryan Park, officials have dismissed alternate routes that would have removed even more trees and driven project costs up by at least $1 million.
Three weeks after a contentious community meeting, Department of Public Works Deputy Director Dironna Moore Clarke says officials are finalizing permits for the original route design in the North Side park. “The city expects the project to be advertised for a bid within the next three months,” she adds in an email. “Construction is set to conclude in April 2026.”
The proposed $300 million Fall Line trail stretches 43 miles from Ashland to Petersburg. The aim of the project is to connect pedestrians and bicyclists to parks, neighborhoods and shopping areas throughout the region. Officials anticipate its completion by 2030.
The city’s fiscal year 2026 budget allocates $11 million for its part of the trail, which begins in the north at Bryan Park. Planning officials approved plans last summer, but some park patrons allege that they were not duly consulted.
An updated engineering report submitted to the city in March estimates that the original mile-long route in Bryan Park would cost $2.3 million and impact only six trees. Two other proposals, which envision longer routes around the perimeter of the park, would impact more than 40 trees and cost either $3.4 million or $4.1 million. There was also concern that the alternate routes could disrupt the RVA Big Market, held in the park on Saturdays throughout the year.
More than 200 people attended a community hearing on the preliminary plan organized by the city in April. Many supporters rolled to the meeting as part of a cross-city bike ride encouraged by Sports Backers, a local community nonprofit backing the project.
Ahead of the meeting, two opponents of the current trail plan sent a letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch calling on city leaders to halt the project for further study. The missive alleges that they did not thoroughly consider costs and impacts to the environment and surrounding neighborhoods before a groundbreaking ceremony last August.
