Lynchburg, VA has several miles of abandoned railroads, and much of it has been turned into several miles of rail trail. There are still some opportunities that they may take advantage of in the future (extending the riverwalk trail to Concord, VA or the Kemper Station Trail to Seminary Hill) but there's one opportunity they might take advantage of in the near future - rehabilitating the Langhorne Road Bridge which can be seen above.
Last month, they awarded a $200,000 contract to provide engineering design services for stabilization and renovation of the abandoned railway trestle, and to continue the Blackwater Creek Trail from it's current terminus. They want to convert the trestle into a utilitarian pedestrian/bicycle bridge including 2,200 additional linear feet of trail (10 feet wide with 2 foot shoulders). Once complete the new trail section would extend from the current trailhead and parking lot to Linkhorne Middle School. A separate trail is being considered that goes along Ivy Creek to Peaks View Park.
They did an assessment of the bridge in 2004 (page 41) that found it to be in good condition despite years of disuse and non-maintenance. The estimated cost of retrofitting it in 2004 was set at $235,000, but a 2016 update that included all of the trail put it at just over $1M. (the 3 mile Ivy Creek Greenway would be $3.2 million and a connector trail between them would be $95,000)
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