So I attended the Recreational Trails Summit conference for Northern Virginia and, apart from a free lunch (which is never to be despised), what did I gain from it?
It actually was very heartening to see so many state and county agencies involved in the effort to achieve an ambitious goal: that of enabling all residents of the area to be within a 15-minute walk or a 5-minute bicycle ride to a regionally significant trail. We had representative from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and Northern Virginia Regional Commission, among others. There were also a number of what might be called trail users: those like myself who without holding any state or county position felt an interest in the status of the trail system in the area and its availability to the residents of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties.
The first piece of information I received filled me with an emotion something like dismay: the VDH representative told us that 70% of all Virginians can be classified as overweight or obese. It is clear that, in terms of health care cost alone, it is in the state’s best interest to obtain an infrastructure that provides access to open-air exercise for its residents to the greatest extent possible.
It appears, also, that the effort to fill in the gaps of the Potomac Heritage Trail has accelerated in the past several months. There was a workshop devoted to prioritizing the gaps that needed to be closed up and to identify any gaps that the agencies may not have included in their analysis. I put in a plea to attend to the crossing on the PHT at Pimmit Run, which has been washed out for years; time will whether this attempt on my part has any effect.
There are numerous other trails that are being developed and extended. The last time I went along the Occoquan Greenway (which was some years ago), there was not a great deal to see; but it seems to have been improved since that time, and there are plans to extend it to Occoquan Regional Park and eventually to Occoquan itself. Many new trails are planned for Loudoun County, including a Winery Trail and also a cross-county trail similar to the one in Fairfax.
Of course all of this effort is not restricted to hikers. The trails are also designed for bicyclists, especially for the purposes of commuting – the Department of Transportation is, quite naturally, trying to reduce the amount of traffic on the roads. The use of e-bikes will not only be tolerated but encouraged, even to the extent of setting up charging stations on some of the more widely-used trails.
Of special interest to me was the workshop on mapping. There is a need to collect data on features of the trails such as availability of restrooms (many of the trails pass through county or state park with such facilities), benches, picnic tables, etc., and also to identify deficiencies in wayfinding. I pricked up my ears at this last item, because certain trails, such as the Fairfax Cross-County Trail, are very poorly marked. So when they talked about the need for volunteers once the methodology of data collection was finalized, I pointed out that there are several local hiking clubs from whom they should be able to find recruits. I certainly would participate in such an effort willingly.
It was all very far-ranging and elaborate, and at times I wondered whether it was excessively so. But the conference was not merely formulating a wish-list; quite a lot of money has been allocated by various federal, state, and county agencies, all of whom are anxious to establish a better level of health in the state population than is currently the case. The reduced health costs alone would justify the funding, and when the reduction of vehicle emissions, increase in tourism, and improvements in the environment are factored in, it is evident that the government agencies are anticipating rich returns for the investment in trail infrastructure. It would be an unexpected development from the pandemic, but not at all an impossible one, if it results in a long-term increase in out-of-door exercise among the American population at large.