News & Press Releases

NVRPA, Dominion VA Power Announce Detour on W&OD Trail

FAIRFAX STATION, VA (November 13, 2009) - The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA), in cooperation with Dominion Virginia Power, has announced a 2 mile detour of the W&OD Trail between mile markers 36 and 38, beginning December 1, 2009, to enable Dominion to bury a transmission line under the trail. The two organizations negotiated a paved detour, which will keep the trail open safely to the public throughout the one-year construction process.

Dominion is building a new 230 kV transmission line that will extend from Dominion\'s existing Pleasant View Substation, located east of Leesburg off Cochran Mill Road, to a new substation site northwest of Hamilton, near the intersection of Berlin Turnpike and Rt. 7.  The line will serve the growing need for electricity in Loudoun County, one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. 

In February, 2008, the Virginia State Corporation Commission approved Dominion’s application to build the line and issued an order to bury 2 miles of the line underground along the W&OD trail. 

“We are pleased that the trail could remain open during this period so that it would remain passable for users,” said Su Webb, Chairman of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. “The W&OD is a great source of exercise, relaxation and even a method of transportation for so many people, and we wanted to make sure we did everything in our power to keep it running safely, without interruption.”

The affected portion of the W&OD Trail is 1.8 miles long, and the detour route is 2 miles long. 

The affected area is just west of Leesburg, starting at milepost 36, approximately 3/5 of a mile west of the Route 7 trail crossing. The detour will begin parallel to the trail, then cross private property and eventually merge with Cannongate Drive for approximately a half mile. The detour then twists back out to run parallel with the trail, then eventually merges back with the normal route just prior to the Route 9 intersection.

Trail users should use extreme caution, as segments of the detour trail are sloped. In addition, approximately 0.5 mile is shared on-road, and the detour is a single trail shared by cyclists, equestrians, skaters and hikers.  Most of the detour route traverses private property; please respect these landowners and stay on the trail. Users are reminded never to enter the construction zone.

For more information about the project, please call NVRPA at 703-359-4615 or Dominion at 804-771-3455, or visit www.nvrpa.org or www.dom.com.