Greenway Trail Phase 2 Design Public Hearing May 23, 2013, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
The City will hold a public hearing for Greenway Trail Phase 2 on May 23, 2013, from 4pm to 6pm in the City Council Chamber at 503 West Main Street, Waynesboro.
The proposed design and construction for the Greenway Trail Phase 2 located in the City of Waynesboro, VA. The trail will start at the Dominion Pavilion and run approximately 1.2 miles northeast towards North Park.
In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106 and 36 CFR Part 800, information concerning the potential effects of the proposed projects on properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places is provided in the environmental documentation.
The environmental documents (Programmatic Categorical Exclusion) may be reviewed during the design public hearing or by calling 540-245-5615.
In accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, no person shall be excluded
from participation in or be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact the Virginia Department of
Transportation, Civil Rights Division (800) 367-7623 or TDD/TTY 711.
Give your written or oral comments at the hearing where one on one consultation will be available,
anytime between 4:00p.m. and 6:00p.m., or submit them by June 3 to Mr. Dwayne Jones,
Project Manager, City of Waynesboro, 413 Port Republic Road, Waynesboro, Virginia 22980.
Posted on May 20, 2013 ·
PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 1, 2012) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced $400,000 in funding to the City of Waynesboro, Va. to help assess the clean up needed for contaminated properties that will lead to potential redevelopment. These are the first EPA brownfields funds awarded to Waynesboro, and also the first in Augusta County. “I’m pleased to present Waynesboro this $400,000 grant to assess 17 potentially contaminated sites for clean up,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “This new funding will support the next step in Waynesboro’s downtown revitalization plan, leading to the cleanup and eventual reuse of brownfields that will encourage private investment and the creation of new jobs in the local community.” Garvin was joined by Waynesboro Mayor Bruce Allen, Michael Barnes the Director of Planning and other members of the community who have been actively involved in the city’s 2010 Downtown Revitalization Plan. Under that plan, Waynesboro – with support from state and federal agencies and local cash matches, has made substantial headway in improving infrastructure including adding streetscapes, improving parks and retrofitting stormwater and storm sewers. EPA’s award includes two $200,000 brownfields grants, one for sites potentially contaminated with hazardous waste and the other for sites potentially contaminated with petroleum. The brownfields funding will enable Waynesboro to create an inventory of the parcels and conduct 17 site assessments, all of which support its Downtown Revitalization Plan. Additionally, these funds will assist with public participation efforts that have led to the success of the plan thus far, ensuring active community involvement to achieve their vision of revitalizing the downtown. Since 1994, EPA has awarded approximately 13 brownfields recipients in Virginia sharing more than $13 million and breathing new life into old properties. These grants to communities, non-profits and the Va. Department of Environmental Quality have resulted in more than 100 assessments and/or cleanups of brownfields properties, created more than 60 jobs and leveraged over $ 93 million in Virginia. Throughout the mid-Atlantic regional states – -which includes Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the District of Columbia – – EPA has supported approximately 100 recipients who have shared more than $70 million in brownfields grants. These regional grants have resulted in more than 1,100 assessments and/or cleanups of brownfields properties, creating more than 8,200 jobs, and leveraging $673 million. For a list of all awarded brownfields grants by state http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/ Posted on February 27, 2013 ·
The Broad Street Bridge’s nine-month rehabilitation project starts on February 19, 2013. A revenue sharing project between the City of Waynesboro and the Virginia Department of Transportation, the 56-year-old bridge carries about 10,000 vehicles daily, but it was rated in serious conditions with deteriorated substructure, a cracked surface and rusty railings, among other things, after annual inspections. Traffic will be routed to Main Street as work is done on the bridge until the Nov. 5 expected finish date. Kimberly Watters, the executive director of Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc., made it a point that all businesses on Broad Street will continue to be open during the operation. “The businesses on Main Street are really going to take advantage,” Watters said. “The ones that are impacted by the Broad Street Bridge, [we] just want to let people know they have no intention of closing. It might be a little difficult to get to them, but they are trying to make it worth it, like what McCoy’s [Furniture] is doing with their big sale … It’s a great opportunity for Main Street business to take up their game.” Those looking to be impacted by the project are as ready as they can be. “We’ve told all the carriers it’s going to be a little difficult to go around the building,” said Pete McCoy, the owner of McCoy’s Furniture. “We are just continuing with our promotion and hoping people will come around the block and come and see us. “We’ve been running an inventory clearance. We really haven’t done a lot of [marketing]. We are just trying to get the word out that we are open. Our concern is being able to receive [products]. We will lose a little bit of our parking lot. The people who are doing the bridge, they have assured us that they will do everything they can to not be in our way. The town has been really responsive to us. We know, in the long run, it’s going to be a real good thing.” For some businesses, a boost would be nice but not necessarily expected. “We don’t know yet,” said Chris Krupa, the manager of Heritage on Main. “We have to wait and kind of see what happens. I don’t know how much it is going to affect us. We will be happy to accommodate any new business.” Reprinted from the February 19, 2013 News Virginian Posted on February 21, 2013 ·
The Waynesboro Department of Parks & Recreation, alongside McCormick Taylor Inc. and Land Planning & Design Associates Inc., hosted a public information session to receive comments on the proposed master plan for Constitution Park on Wednesday afternoon. The design team was in attendance, as were city officials, who received written comments from locals. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers on Main Street, plans about the green space, better connection to downtown, festival space, removal of the pavilion and more were discussed. “We’ve heard lots of different comments,” Dwayne Jones, the director of Parks and Recreation, said. “The thing we like to encourage and focus on is, we have big plans …. We think it’s great. We wanted a relaxed atmosphere so folks can come in, tell us their concerns … We will take all those comments and pull all the information together after the meeting.” Jim Shaw, deputy city manager, was in attendance and felt that it was a worthwhile experience for all involved. “I think that there are a lot of people who are just curious and happy to see the park renovation,” Shaw said. “They see what we have done with the green way, the pavilion on the other side of the park … They are excited to see that continuation … You never know where a good idea is going to come from … We are looking for relevant input. You look and see what most people think. You feel like it’s a democratic process, you should try and incorporate some of that stuff.” Plans call for dirt to begin being moved in 2014. Jones expects the project to be complete in 2015. Now, while excitement grows for this new-look Waynesboro, there are major concerns. The most massive counter-argument to the plans is the taking down of the pavilion, which will dig into funds for the project. Jim Coate, the manager of the Waynesboro Farmers Market, is one of the more concerned locals. “I’ve heard a number of people say that the timeline is messed up, to use limited funds to take down something. It leaves us kind of in limbo,” Coate said. “In theory, we could use pop-up tents out in the parking lot, but it’s not a real exciting solution. Being a smaller market, it’s a little harder getting the critical mass to keep doing it … I’m hopeful it could at least stay to get through whatever the transition is. One thing they didn’t put out is the phase timeline.” Jones understands the concerns of Coate and others, but he insists there is one common goal. “We want the Farmers Market to be successful,” Jones said, citing how Staunton and Charlottesville implement a parking lot market. Moving forward, all of the comments will be analyzed and discussed, says Shaw. For Jones, all he wants is a bigger, better park, one that will attract more events and people to the park. Wednesday was just another step in the process. “We hope that if we make the improvements to the park, something else shows up,” Jones said. “What we are trying to do is create is a signature park along the river. It’s not only the gateway into downtown, but we see it as a great park because we are fortunate to have lots of festivals in Waynesboro. We think it can only be better, bigger…We really want folks’ input. It is conceptual at this point. It’s not in concrete.” Reprinted from the January 24, 2013 News Virginian Posted on February 5, 2013 ·
Things are starting to look a little fishy in downtown Waynesboro. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was conducted Wednesday morning for the Waynesboro Fish-Deck, an elevated, 20-foot wide wooden deck designed in the shape of a rock bass, a native fish in the South River. The deck, which cost about $18,000 to build, is located behind the Dominion Pavilion at the northern entrance to the Greenway in Constitution Park. “We had just finished the first phase of the Greenway and we wanted to do something special,” said Kimberly Watters, executive director of Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc. “Originally it was going to be just an observation deck. It wasn’t going to be in the shape of a fish.” Don’t let the name of the deck fool you. It is not a fishing platform, but rather an observation platform where residents and visitors can view the South River as it peacefully flows past. Officials hope the Fish-Deck will someday be as popular as Staunton’s watering can or Charlottesville’s whale tails. “It’s completely unique,” Watters said. “I think people are going to love it.” The beauty and importance of the South River was a hot topic for speakers at the ribbon cutting. “There are certain spots where you can discover new things about the community and new things about the blessings of nature, and personally, I have had that experience on this deck,” Waynesboro City Manager Mike Hamp said. Waynesboro is known as the river city, but for years, the river was often viewed negatively, Len Poulin said. “If we could have paved this river and made a parking lot out of it, we would have done it in a heartbeat,” he said. However, the river has since been turned into an asset, he said. “This Fish-Deck … represents what’s great about our community,” he added. The Fish-Deck celebrates the South River, complimenting what the city has done with the Greenway, Constitution Park, Virginia Fly Fishing Festival and the planned development of the Center for Coldwaters Restoration, said Brad Belo, a community revitalization specialist with the department of housing and community development. “The Fish-Deck has turned out to be a really great project,” he said. Phase one of the Greenway, which was completed about a year ago, runs .88 mile alongside the South River, beginning at the Dominion Shelter in Constitution Park and ending by the Waynesboro YMCA. “People are using it,” Watters said. Phase 2 of the South River Greenway Trail Project will probably begin in the spring and take at least a year to complete, Watters said. The deck was paid for with individual and corporate donations, including a $5,000 grant from the CSX Corp. Virginia Main Street also provided a grant. Reprinted from the August 30, 2012 News Virginian Posted on August 30, 2012 ·
The Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Commonwealth Transportation Board has awarded the City of Waynesboro $424,574 in Federal Transportation Enhancement Program funds for Phase Two of the South River Greenway Trail Project. This amount is in addition to a $320,000 grant previously awarded by VDOT in 2011. Together, these two grants mean that the Phase Two of the South River Greenway Trail is now fully funded. The grant money will fund the planning, design and construction of a 1.2 mile multi-use trail that will extend from the Dominion Virginia Power Pavilion in Constitution Park northward along South River to North Park. This extension is a continuation of the 1-mile Phase One of the Greenway Trail, which links the YMCA with Constitution Park. Phase 1 was opened to the public in March of this year. “Building on the success of Phase One, Phase Two will link several neighborhoods and parks to Downtown, provide another recreational resource for people living near the trail, and improve the quality of life for the entire City.” stated Michael Barnes, Waynesboro Director of Planning. The grant will pay for a 10-foot wide asphalt trail, bridges, benches, bike racks, trailhead signage and landscaping. The City has already held several design meetings with the engineering and landscape firms hired to design the trail. The preliminary plans will be shown to the public this fall. Trail construction is slated to start in 2014. The Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded a total of $26.4 million in Transportation Enhancement Grants this year as part of the Transportation Enhancement Program. This funding will support approximately 77 projects throughout the State. Posted on August 29, 2012 ·
Reprinted from the March 16, 2012 News Virginian Years of planning, grants and obtaining of easements will be celebrated Saturday morning with the grand opening of the first phase of Waynesboro’s South River Greenway, a stretch of trail about a mile in length from Loth Springs to Constitution Park. For more than a decade, conservationists and Waynesboro officials have labored to make the path a reality. Beyond enhancing the riverfront, the greenway represents an investment in a city striving to upgrade its downtown. Read more Posted on March 16, 2012 ·
The City is currently implementing streetscape improvements on West Main Street between Wayne Avenue and Church Street, and on Wayne Avenue between Federal Street and West Broad Street. The following images conceptually show the improvements, which will include new paving, sidewalks, street lights, street trees, and crosswalks, among other things. Click HERE for the Wayne Avenue plan, and HERE for the Main Street plan. Construction is expected to start in 2013, but the design process is currently underway. Read more Posted on December 14, 2011 ·
Waynesboro Downtown Development’s Design Committee and the City Planning Department are co-hosting a Citizen’s Information Meeting on the Downtown Streetscape Plans on Tuesday, December 13th from 6pm to 8 pm. These plans are for streetscape improvements to the 500 block of West Main Street and Wayne Avenue from Federal Street to Broad Street. This meeting will be held in the Wayne Theatre Alliances’ Gateway building, at 329 West Main Street. Read more Content © 2012 City of Waynesboro, Va. | Site design by Augusta Free Press LLC.EPA Grant Aids Waynesboro Downtown Redevelopment
Broad Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project Set to Begin
Residents Hear Park Plan Details
Waynesboro’s Fish Deck Unveiled
City of Waynesboro announces an award of $424,574 for South River Greenway Trail
South River Greenway officially opening
Updated Plans for Downtown Streetscape Improvements
Citizens’ Information Meeting
Click here to access the Infrastructure Improvement map