Last week, the city of Alexandria purchased two parcels of land along the Alexandria Waterfront as part of their Open Space Plan.
The $2.8 million acquisition added more acreage to the city's growing inventory of land that, beginning this spring, will be redeveloped to make it more accessible and user-friendly for residents. The redeveloped land, which should eventually stretch from Duke Street to the city's marina, will include mostly open spaces, such as bike trails, parks and more dock space, said Jinks.The sale was financed with dedicated funds collected from the city's real estate tax. Three years ago, the City Council approved a measure that set aside 1 cent on the dollar, which pulls in about $3 million per year, to be used specifically for land acquisitions.
Part of their Open Space Plan involves, what they've called the Green Crescent.
An open space that follows the alignment of the City’s primary rivers and streams: Potomac River, Four Mile Run, Cameron Run and Holmes Run...Hiker and biker trails and natural landscapes would be the predominate characteristics of the Green Crescent.
The second part of the Green Crescent involves building a trail beside the railroad right of way from Four Mile Run all the way to Ben Brenman Park.
Of course we wouldn't be dealing with a local government if there weren't multiple plans so there's also the Potomac River Waterfront Plan, the completion of which the Open Spaces Plan calls goal 3. There are 8 pieces of property named as priorities for completing the plan and these two are among them. Hopefully these pieces of property can be used to take the Mount Vernon trail off of Union Street.
It looks like Alexandria is making a real effort to create a bike network. Montgomery County should pay attention.
Comments