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Chris Folger of Spotsylvania Greenways Initiative hopes
Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail volunteer Jim Lynch trims back some foliage along the path, which will be the site |
By CATHY DYSON
Ten days before racers were scheduled to run an ultra-marathon through the woods of King George County, utility trucks ran their own course along a portion of the trail.
Heavy-duty equipment used by a subcontractor for Dominion Virginia Power created ruts--some a foot deep--along a 1-mile stretch of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail, said Dave Jones. He's president of the volunteer group that maintains the 15.7-mile trail.
Jones sent an e-mail to fellow hikers and bikers on Friday, three days after he noticed the deep tracks.
"I can't believe that they were so cavalier in their destruction," Jones wrote. "Truly, I am at a loss for words."
Jones found his voice a few days later, when Dominion sent a crew to repair the damage.
"They are really bending over backwards," Jones reported to volunteers. "Far better response than I had feared or expected."
Utility workers have been rebuilding a section of electrical line from Fredericksburg to the Potomac River, said Dominion spokesman Dan Genest. As crews worked, a nearby landowner suggested the trucks use the trail.
"Our guys got on that road, not knowing it was the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail," Genest added.
The crew is fixing the damage in time for Saturday's 50-kilometer race and has gotten permission to use the trail for future work. The company will fill in and tamp down any ruts created by equipment, Genest said.
The damage is the latest incident with the trail, which has been a controversial topic in King George for more than a decade.
Landowners along the route fear the trail will bring crime, litter and noise. Supporters say that people who hike and bike through what volunteer Jim Lynch describes as "a green tunnel" will respect the land around them.
David Brickley, a former state legislator from Woodbridge, acquired the rights to the abandoned railroad bed that was built by the Navy during World War II. He and the volunteers issue free permits to those who want to use it.
The application is on the trail group's Web site.
The trail will get a lot of attention on Saturday during the race. Runners are expected to start at 6:30 a.m. at the nearby Caledon Natural Area. They'll cover the entire trail, turn around and go back to Caledon.
Trail volunteers showed the race organizer the damage before Dominion fixed it, and the organizer said the ruts wouldn't deter these racers, Lynch said. The fastest ones can cover the 31 miles in 3 hours.
"This is a very easy course, even with the damage done by the power company," Jones said. "It has one hill on it, and the rest of it is dead flat."
The trail damage came a week after the group's success in a lawsuit.
A landowner on Lambs Creek Church Road tried to reclaim a portion of the trail through a real-estate law called adverse possession.
Had the landowner been successful, the trail would have have been cut in half, Brickley said. The case advanced to the Virginia Supreme Court, which refused to hear the appeal. It let stand an earlier ruling by the King George Circuit Court, which kept the trail in one piece.
"This is a major victory for this wonderful project," Brickley said in an e-mail.
Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
