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TextBraddock District Park Updates
Master Plan Process Starts For Monticello Park
The Fairfax County Park Authority has begun developing a park master plan for Monticello Park. The decisions made as a result of this public process will shape the future development of the park. A public information meeting will be held on Thursday, January 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria of Bonnie Brae Elementary School.
The meeting will feature a presentation describing the site’s existing
conditions, potential future uses and the park master planning process.
The plan serves as a long-range vision (10-20 year timeframe), is
conceptual in nature, and not intended to address detailed issues related
to site design or park operations. One potential future use, already
proposed, is a dog park.
A public discussion will follow the staff presentation in an effort to
identify community concerns, answer questions and receive suggestions for
future park uses. This dialogue will serve as the basis for the draft
master plan. If you are interested in learning more, please visit http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/plandev/monticello.htm.
If you are unable to attend, comments can be sent to
Parkmail@fairfaxcounty.gov or Braddock@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Pickett Road Pedestrian Bridge Reopens
The pedestrian bridge over the Long Branch stream valley at Pickett Road
and Twinbrook Road reopened to pedestrian traffic on January 4, 2011. The
original 320 foot bridge was 45 years old and constructed with steel
H-beams that predates modern corrosion-resistant steel and suffered in
the wet environment of the stream. In fact, the foundation had corroded
to a point that the county welders could no longer make repairs.
The bridge had received a major rehabilitation in 1991 that reinforced
the decking and joists, allowing the walking surface to feel stable, but
it had come to a point that the County needed to either replace the whole
bridge or shut it down. Staff from the County’s Maintenance and
Stormwater Management Division spent several years amassing sufficient
funds to replace the bridge at a time when maintenance funding has been
impossibly stretched.
The bridge serves as a major pedestrian connection for communities on
opposite sides of the steam including Olde Creek and Surrey Square, and
provides walking access to Little Run and Olde Creek Elementary Schools,
Frost Middle School and Woodson High School. Although the project was
plagued by a number of unforeseen delays, and a need to relocate
previously undocumented utility lines, it has now passed a final critical
structures inspection, and is again available for community use.
The County also used the project as an opportunity to undertake channel
restoration using innovative natural stream practices to repair the
failing outfall channel. Because this is a stream valley park, indigenous
plants have been used to replant the stream bank. The natural stream
design will have waterfalls and pools to slow down the water and rock
walls to protect the bridge piers and outfall channel at the nearby bend
in the stream.
Lake Barton Dredging to Begin by End of Month
Construction is scheduled to start the week of January 31, 2011. The
lake will be mechanically dredged using a barge and excavating equipment.
The lake water level will be maintained and will not need to be drawn
down for dredging operations. A general description of this type of
dredging and equipment is available on the website of the contractor,
Lake Services at http://www.lakeservices.com.
Once sediment removal begins, up to 45 to 85 trucks a day will enter and
leave the site to haul the material to a local landfill where it will be
reused as landscaping topsoil that is needed to close a landfill in
Lorton. The contractor will have approximately 190 days to complete the
work.
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