A Plan Takes Shape at Town Council Work Session for Connecting Appalachian Trail Head to Town of Front Royal

An Appalachian hiker comes off the trail at the Chester Gap junction. He or she is carrying a heavy pack, it may be five o’clock in the morning, and to reach the town of Front Royal, several miles of hiking remain on the shoulder of Route 522, where cars are moving at sixty-five miles per hour. This is not safe.

Town Council meets for Monday night work session. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

On behalf of the Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES), Justin Proctor presented to the Front Royal Town Council a request for funding of a Trail Corridor Analysis and Feasibility Study on a possible connector trail between the Appalachian trailhead and the town of Front Royal; this presentation took place at a town council work session on Monday, March 11 at 7 p.m. in the Front Royal Town Hall on 102 East Main Street.

Coming from the Appalachian Trail crossing on Route 522, the proposed trail would mostly be a mulched path, roughly three miles in length, located on the western side of the road. Three to four to five feet in width, this would be a foot-traffic trail, precluding bicycles, horses, or any other multi-use aspect. “A lot of what this trail is shaped on is safety,” Proctor explained, “safety for everyone using that corridor.” Safety becomes more of a concern as traffic increases on 522. The goal is to get hikers safely from the trailhead to Front Royal. This trail would complement the trolley that currently runs between those two points but at limited times.

Justin Proctor presents a funding request to the council for a feasibility study on a possible connector trail on behalf of the Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES).

ACES is working with Ironwood Outdoors, Inc. to potentially generate a study that would take a month to a month and a half to execute and cost a lump sum fee of eight thousand two hundred dollars with a retainer fee of one thousand five hundred dollars paid upon execution of the agreement. ACES is requesting that amount of funding from the Town. Proctor explained that normally, he would have sought a grant, but the comparative smallness of the fee makes grant requesting awkward. He wants to be able to say: “The town of Front Royal got us kicked off with this.” He does not anticipate pursuing the Town for further funding in the project’s future. And he is hopeful that ACES may receive grant funding for breaking dirt this year. In reference to the feasibility study, Ironwood writes to ACES: “Services to be provided under this task include review of existing site conditions, recommendations for preferred alignment, rendered base maps, an order of magnitude cost estimate, and guidance for next steps towards design and construction.” The building of the path may require easements, and the study itself will require cooperation from various property owners as Ironwood goes into action.

Stephen Steele of CHA Consulting, Inc. presents an analysis of the town’s water and septic capacity to the council, encouraging them to be more specific and proactive about their development plans.

The pleasure of the council was to discuss the item at a future work session, the earliest being April 1. Foreseeably, they would vote on it at their April 22 regular meeting. As much as Proctor would like to expedite the process to be more prepared for an April 16 meeting he is holding at Samuel’s Public Library, working within the constraints of the council’s schedule proves necessary. Over the evening, the council also heard and discussed other items that included the budget, an analysis of the town’s water and septic capacity, and a community development update. They went into a closed session at 9:15 p.m.

Community Development and Tourism Director Lizi Lewis presents to council a community development update.