Old Bridge sidewalk project could be finished in October

Dulce Diaz walks home from Woodbridge Senior High School on a new sidewalk built to improve safety along Old Bridge Road.

By: Aileen Streng | Inside NoVA
Published: September 18, 2009

Walking along Old Bridge Road in Lake Ridge just got safer.

An asphalt trail along the busy thoroughfare in front of Woodbridge High School and Old Bridge Elementary School has been completed, and work continues to extend cement sidewalks from the high school to the eastern end of Oakwood Drive.

“We did push to get the work complete in front of the schools prior to [the beginning of the school year,]” said Tom Blaser, Prince William County director of transportation.

The sidewalks should be finished by the end of October.

“It’s extremely important to have a safe environment there,” said county Supervisor Mike May, R-Occoquan. “Before the new trail you would see any number of high school kids walking along the shoulder of the road to get to class.”

The $750,000 project was many years in the making, May said.

It’s been paid for with county Transportation and Roadway Improvement Program funds that are allotted to each county supervisor for smaller neighborhood projects that wouldn’t be included in a road bond or a state project, Blaser said.

“Often times TRIP funds are used for public safety or sidewalk-type projects,” May said.

May and several of the Occoquan supervisors before him have been putting a portion of their TRIP funds aside for the Old Bridge sidewalk project.

“We’ve all been supportive of this project. It’s nice to see them finally coming online,” May said.

When the sidewalk is finished, it will then be possible to walk on either sidewalk or trail from Va. 123 to Cavalier Drive along Old Bridge.

“Over the next couple of years we want to try to extend them farther,” May said. “The goal is to have them along the entire corridor. Why they are not there already is because when Old Bridge Road was built, the mentality was to get people in the car and to where they want to go.

“Now what we are seeing is that people want to have more connectivity, whether it’s trails, sidewalks or otherwise. They want to be able to get to the store or a friend’s house without having to get in the car,” May said.

May described the sidewalks as being both a public safety and quality of life enhancement.

“We are really excited about it,” he said. “Old Bridge is our community’s main street.”

Staff writer Aileen Streng can be reached at 703-878-8010.