Planners are talking about extending a walking trail that would join two National Parks in Prince William County.
An asphalt walking trail on Prince William Parkway ends at the intersection of Liberia Avenue and Wellington Road in Manassas. Transportation officials last month were directed to find out how much it would cost to extend the trail from that intersection to Manassas National Battlefield Park.
Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman, At-large Corey Stewart asked for the numbers. The trail would connect to another walking trail on the Route 234 bypass portion of Prince William Parkway, allowing both Prince William Forest Park and Manassas National Battlefield Park to be connected via the county’s expanding trail system.
The county’s transportation department is working to compile the information to present to the chairman. As of now, there is no cost figure or date of when construction on this project could begin, said transportation department chief Tom Blaser.
Prince William County has made the construction of both sidewalks on one side and paving hiking and biking trails on the other standard when it widens or constructs new roads.
The county’s parks department is working in conjunction with the transportation department to find out what it would take to extend the trail.
“Certainly on the wishlist of the master plan is to have connectivity between both Prince William Forest Park nd the battlefield, because what you would end up with is a patchwork of trails that we could market on a master trail map,” said Prince William County Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Brent Heavner.
Ultimately, whether or not this project goes forward will depend on taxpayer funding. Both Heavner and Blaser said the new trail could run through Innovation Park at Prince William — a key economic development area for Prince William County just outside Manassas, home to the Science and Technology Campus of George Mason University.
