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Fairfax City’s planned George Snyder Trail will create a new pedestrian and bicycle link between Chain Bridge Road and the Wilcoxon Trail at Draper Drive, south of Fairfax Boulevard.
Named for a former Fairfax City mayor, the ADA-compliant trail is intended to improve regional connections while providing comfortable access for cyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities. Portions will pass through city parks and use porous asphalt or concrete boardwalk surfaces.
The trail will be 10 feet wide with 2-foot shoulders on both sides. Five steel-truss bridges with concrete decks will cross Accotink Creek and smaller tributaries. Each bicycle and pedestrian bridge will be 14 feet wide, and approaches will be designed without blind spots.
The route will connect existing trail segments at Marketplace Boulevard, Stafford Park, Cardinal Park and Draper Drive Park, linking nearby neighborhoods with Fairfax City’s commercial corridor.
Raised crosswalks and new signs are planned at neighborhood intersections. Intersections and trail junctions will receive dark-sky-compliant lighting.
Boardwalk sections near bridge approaches will include retaining walls and railings, while elevated concrete decks will keep the trail above the water. Four retaining walls, ranging from 3 to 17 feet tall, will separate parts of the trail from private properties and reduce grading impacts on the forest.
Plans also call for viewing areas, educational markers and rain gardens.