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A new 2.5-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail beside the Capital Beltway will open in McLean on Saturday, June 27, with a free community run and family activities marking the occasion.

The shared-use path follows Interstate 495 between Lewinsville Road and Live Oak Drive. It connects with the Fairfax County Park Authority trail network and Scott’s Run Nature Preserve.

Built behind new noise walls, the separated path includes new Beltway crossings at Lewinsville Road, Old Dominion Drive and Georgetown Pike.

The trail is among the final multimodal additions associated with the 495 Express Lanes Northern Extension project. The joint Virginia Department of Transportation and Transurban project extended the interstate’s toll lanes beyond the George Washington Memorial Parkway and upgraded seven bridges.

The extended express lanes opened to traffic in November 2025. Michelle Shropshire, VDOT’s Northern Virginia deputy district engineer and megaprojects director, called the trail’s debut another major milestone and said it reflects the agency’s effort to include transportation options beyond driving in express-lane projects.

Transurban North America President Beau Memory said the path will give Northern Virginia residents another way to travel while improving access to outdoor spaces for walkers and cyclists.

Opening celebration planned

VDOT and Transurban will introduce the trail with a free, casual 4.95K run beginning around 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Registration is required.

A children’s run will start at 9:15 a.m., with family entertainment offered before and after the runs.

Activities will begin at the site of a future annex parking lot for Scott’s Run Nature Preserve. Nearby event parking will be available at Holy Trinity Church, 850 Balls Hill Road.

Crews are still installing handrails and fencing to prepare the path for its June 27 opening. The trail remains closed until then because construction equipment is using it during replanting work in areas affected by the express-lanes project.

The future annex lot will have approximately 25 parking spaces and a 5-foot-wide sidewalk along Balls Hill Road leading into Scott’s Run Nature Preserve. VDOT said it will open in the coming months.

The department offered the parking area to the Fairfax County Park Authority in exchange for 1.15 acres of the preserve needed for the highway project.