The Project is a proposed 22.6-mile multi-use transportation corridor that follows the Smith River beginning at Virginia Avenue (U.S. 220 Business), the current northern terminus of the D&W, and ends at the Philpott Lake Visitors Center in Henry County, a 2,900-acre impoundment used for recreation and power generation and operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. A four-mile extension beyond Philpott Lake into Patrick County will be included, bringing the trail further west to Fairy Stone State Park, run by the VA Department of Conservation and Recreation. The Project will connect the existing 11-mile D&W, which starts at the Smith River Sports Complex (southern terminus) with Philpott Lake, Fairy Stone State Park, and numerous other recreation areas creating a stretch of nearly 34 miles (existing + new trail) crossing Henry County and into Patrick. The trail will pass through the communities of Collinsville, Fieldale, Stanleytown, and Bassett. The Project would reconstruct existing sidewalks in Fieldale and Bassett that would connect to the trail. In addition, the Project will study four Spurs off the D&W mainline: 

1. Fieldale – serving a community with recent private and public investments bringing affordable housing and a community center, as well as multiple public parks.
2. PHCC/Patriot Centre – serving the regional community college (Patrick & Henry Community College) and an industrial park with 3,500 employees
3. Bassett High School – serving the county high school
4. West End - serving an historic African American community, an elementary school, and the future home of a new YMCA.  

The trail is anticipated to be a 10-foot-wide paved surface with grass shoulders with some sections requiring a minimum 5-foot separation from adjacent roadways and some using upgraded 6-foot sidewalks with a dedicated bike lane due to anticipated restrictions. The trail-related infrastructure will include solar streetlighting, benches, signage, and trash receptacles at locations that will be determined in the planning process. Where the trail crosses roads, the Plan will evaluate appropriate crossings including sensors at street crossings for safety, pavement markings, signage, and crossing signals.

Figure 1: Project Map showing Census Tracts and major termini points

Proposed costs will cover the completion of all transportation planning activities required to maximize readiness for pursuing implementation funding. The scope has been informed by the USDOT Project Readiness Checklist along with a draft Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) that covers a section of the D&W extension (Virginia Avenue to Philpott). The BUILD Plan activities will include:

• A meaningful public involvement process including extensive input to propose and plan for connecting community spaces and asset development;
• Completion of a trail project concept and scoping (including logical sections for construction phasing);
• Surveying;
• Construction document development including structural design and geotechnical for necessary crossings over the Smith River;
• Hydraulic analyses;
• Project delivery schedule;
• Creation of detailed construction estimates;
• Coordination with necessary State and Federal agencies per 49 USC 5304 and 23 USC 135;
• All environmental review and permitting requirements;
• Project financing and administrative analysis and preparation; 
• Evaluation activities to document and measure the effectiveness of the planning process, including the public engagement and outreach components; and, 
• Work with the US Army Corps. of Engineers to study a water taxi concept for easy, environmentally friendly access to recreation areas. The C-CAC terminus will be at the Philpott Lake Visitors Center, where transportation options to the many recreation areas surrounding the lake are extremely limited. The water taxi plan will also assess a water-based shuttle service on the Smith River from the Bassett community to the C-CAC’s visitors’ center terminus as well as the viability of vehicle-based shuttle services between outfitters and the C-CAC along the entire D&W Trail system.

Using local funding, the County is completing a draft Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) that covers the 14-mile section of the D&W extension (Virginia Avenue to Philpott). The County is also using TCP funding to complete a county-wide Active Transportation Plan (ATP) that will include the entire proposed stretch of the D&W extension to Philpott and into Patrick County. The ATP will be delivered to VDOT for inclusion in the Six-Year Improvement Plan, which serves as the STIP for rural areas in Virginia.

Transit

Beyond recreational purposes, the C-CAC will directly link adjacent communities to nearby communities and to transit service, with a direct connection to Lowe’s and Walmart which serves as a transfer hub for the Piedmont Area Regional Transit (PART) system. All of these spaces are classified as HDC/APP.  While many of the locations along the planned C-CAC outside of the City of Martinsville are not served by PART, the Project will serve a “last-mile” function by enabling residents to bicycle to the transfer hub and securing their bicycles to bus-mounted bike racks.  The C-CAC will, therefore, expand transportation options beyond the automobile.

Transportation Choice

Also known as Phase 7 of the D&W, the Project will functionally connect numerous community assets and serve as a multi-use transportation corridor to improve the ability of citizens and visitors to travel using alternative means, creating opportunities for physical activity that respond to well-documented health challenges in this region while promoting transportation options. The proposed C-CAC project includes connecting the existing D&W Trail to the PHCC and the Patriot Centre, strengthening the value of the corridor as transportation asset to enable commuters to save money and stay active.  

Economic Development (Tourism)

Over a 22-year period, Henry County lost more than 17,000 manufacturing jobs with a 1990 high of 21,409 and a 2012 low of 4,327 (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics - Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages). The Project will boost economic activity for this rural locality, which will result from tourism revenue and the connection between small business development and regional trails, a synergy supported by evidence that quality-of-life investments pay dividends with large-scale employer recruitment. Community leadership has embraced multi-faceted campaigns to restore economic health with a focus on several fronts including recruitment of high-paying employers, tourism development, and entrepreneurship. 

As with all projects completed in Henry County, this USDOT investment will translate to our local economy even during this preliminary phase. The proposed project is of such scale that the completed extension and associated spurs will positively impact all census tracts of the MHC area.

"We often think of economic development as just doing one thing. We think that if we build it, they will come. But it's typically a lot of things. It's broadband, it's a great park, it's restaurants and places to shop. It is a sustained effort to lean into the things that make a community unique."  

-Amanda Weinstein, Quality of Life and Place as Economic Development: 5 Questions with Amanda Weinstein and John Austin

Quality of Life (Improve Access to Daily Destinations)

The project will boost quality-of-life for the rural locality along with evidence that quality-of-life investments pay dividends with large-scale employer recruitment.

Connectivity

Currently, the only option for many residents of Henry County to access daily destinations such as shopping, healthcare, and employment is by driving. For those area residents who cannot or choose not to drive, the C-CAC will link, either directly or via spurs, to major employment centers, Patrick & Henry Community College, pharmacies, a library, recreational resources, churches, a future YMCA, and a plethora of other destinations.  In addition to contributing to lower healthcare costs and needs via greater physical activity, the option to bicycle or walk to these destinations will reduce reliance on driving, thereby saving money and vehicle wear-and-tear.

The Project also holds significant importance for neighborhood identities and goals. With 11 miles of trail already established (D&W Phases 1-6), the C-CAC will serve as a connector from one corner of Henry County to another, extending to the City of Martinsville, Fairy Stone Park in nearby Patrick County, and other local communities. Some of these assets have been in place for some time, and the planned improvements will enhance their visibility and potential impact by integrating them into a broader community vision. These sites will be connected to emerging, place-based initiatives that originated from the 2022-2024 Project Hope Initiative, a countywide program supported by a private foundation in Martinsville-Henry County. The future trail will link these seeds of hope planted by the Harvest Foundation and will also encourage further investments from nonprofit organizations and business partners.

The C-CAC has become a central point of focus for numerous community conversations over the past several years. The proposed planning project has been identified as a priority in various plans including:

• VDOT Six-Year Improvement Plan (the Six-Year Improvement Plan serves as the STIP for all rural areas in Virginia since these are not covered by an MPO)
• County Comprehensive Plan (currently under development, completion 12/2025)
• County Active Transportation Plan (currently under development, completion 6/2025)
• Bike Plan (2018) by the West Piedmont Planning District Commission 
• VDOT Trail Master Plan – currently under development 
• Small Towns Collaborative Plan – completed in 2019
• Henry County Outdoor Recreation Plan - last version completed in 2019
• Virginia Outdoor Plan - current version is 2018 (with new version anticipated any day)

The mainline trail has appeared on the Virginia Department of Transportation and Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation plan since 2014. Known as the Beaches to Bluegrass (B2B), this 400-mile project will run across the southern half of Virginia from the Hampton Roads area to the Cumberland Gap. Designed to be completed through partnerships with localities connecting regional trails, the B2B counts on work such as that proposed here, particularly as rural partners must be proactive in their pursuit of funding for a project of such magnitude.

As noted above, a PER for the main trunk of the D&W Trail and several other key connectors will be completed this spring, accelerating the potential for this project since a preliminary alignment has been analyzed as part of this process. 

The Project will be joined by emergent place-based efforts seeded through the 2022-2025 Project Hope Initiative, a countywide program to fund grassroots projects through the private foundation in Martinsville-Henry County (MHC). Project Hope has been informed by 

a new organizational Strategic Plan with regional leadership keenly focused on supporting the development of the D&W extension while considering the multitude of ways that an active transportation corridor can improve economic and other outcomes and restore a sense of connectivity and optimism in an area significantly impacted by massive disruptions from globalization and other causes.

The proposed project and work on the C-CAC will incorporate the same spirit while drawing from a USDOT playbook. Not only will a comprehensive public outreach and engagement process deploying best practices outlined in Promising Practices for Meaningful Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making (11/2023 release) occur, but so will planning and development for complementary community assets and partners. In doing so, the team expands the potential impact of this planning work and subsequent implementation phases.

The approach has been further reinforced through the Henry County team participating as a 2022 Thriving Communities Program (TCP) grantee. From check-in meetings to the technical assistance workshops held by the Main Street America team, a diligent and outreach-rich process has been reinforced as a critical foundation for an authentic planning process. This team is dedicating a high level of resources to ensure that all participants are included through robust public outreach and engagement activities.