Construction is scheduled to start on a 0.6-mi. section of the West Roanoke River Greenway in Roanoke County, Va., Cardinal News, an online statewide news service, reported Nov. 15.
The new first phase of greenway construction will run along the south side of the Roanoke River and connect to an existing section of the trail located along West Riverside Drive west of Mill Lane in Salem, according to a news release from Roanoke County.
The project will include a 10-ft.-wide asphalt greenway, a 26-space trailhead parking lot, a crosswalk across West Riverside Drive, mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls, signage, fencing and drainage upgrades.
Roanoke County noted that the work is financed by $12.6 million in federal and state funds from the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), Open Container, Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP) and Smart Scale Program.
The design engineer for the project is Hurt & Proffitt Inc., a Roanoke surveying firm, with subconsultants including Roanoke-based Mattern & Craig, the engineers that designed the retaining walls.
Phase 1 of the West Roanoke River Greenway project was advertised for construction in August, and Roanoke County later issued a Notice to Proceed to Burleigh Construction Co. in Concord, Va., to begin mobilization and tree clearing activities by the mid-point of this month.
The initial trail building effort is anticipated to be complete by March 2025.
The original project scope for the West Roanoke River Greenway extended approximately 1.8 mi. between Green Hill Park and Riverside Park; however, due to right-of-way acquisition challenges, design requirements changes and funding constraints, the project was split into multiple phases.
A second phase of the project would create an additional 0.8-mi. section of greenway with two bridges across the river and a separated grade crossing underneath Diuguids Lane, according to the county. It proposes connectivity between Green Hill Park in Roanoke County and the proposed trailhead parking lot on West Riverside Drive.
Roanoke County also is working with the city of Salem to acquire the rights of way needed to complete the entire project.
The Roanoke River Greenway is identified as a regional priority in the 2018 Roanoke Valley Greenway Plan.
Sweet Briar College Receives $5M Gift to Upgrade Gray Hall
Sweet Briar College, a small private women's college in Amherst County, Va., has received a $5 million donation to support the rehabilitation of Gray Hall, a former student residence building first constructed in 1906.
The school announced Nov. 14 that Keenan Colton Kelsey, a 1966 alumna of the college, made the donation through Sweet Briar's Where Women Lead campaign.
Gray Hall was one of the first residence halls designed for the college by noted architect Ralph Adams Cram. Almost a century later, it was transformed from a residence hall to an administrative and academic building by adding classrooms and modifying dorm rooms to become offices for faculty and staff.
As enrollment at the college has increased over the last eight years, the need for additional student housing became apparent, and Gray Hall will be returned to its original purpose as a residence hall, according to a statement from the school.
The rehabilitated Gray Hall will include removing modern institutional finishes to reveal hardwood floors and plaster ceilings. Additionally, the college said it is considering restoring missing fireplace mantels following their original designs and other woodwork, such as baseboards and picture rails, removed as part of late-20th-century improvements.
The project may also restore original residence hall room configurations, replace demolished partitions, reopen blocked doors, and improve bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities, as well as modernize Gray's HVAC system.
"All of us at Sweet Briar are so grateful for Keenan's gift to support Gray, which accomplishes one of our Where Women Lead campaign goals," said Mary Pope, the school's interim president. "This demonstration of commitment will inspire many others to support this important effort and the consequential improvements to our college. My heart swells with gratitude for Keenan and her generosity."
"I am a fierce believer in same sex education, particularly women's education," Kelsey said in the release. "We need the information, the confidence, the critical thinking and the moral compass to make maximum contributions to the world. Sweet Briar gives women options to have choices in life."
Today's top stories
