Council Votes to Reopen Quarterpath Road

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, June 11, 2011

City Council voted 3-2 to reopen a part of Quarterpath Road that has been closed to vehicular traffic since May 22.

Two council members – Mayor Clyde Haulman and Judy Knudson – hoped the one-lane road would remain closed to cars and be adapted into a multipurpose trail for walking, running and biking. The remaining members saw the appeal for that, but disagreed with the idea of closing the road, which links Route 60 to Route 199 between Redoubt Park and Quarterpath Crossing Shopping Center.

Until last month’s Run for the Dream event, the road was unfinished and most often used by cars with four-wheel drive. In an e-mail to the city, one resident said he liked it because it was the only place he could take his Jeep off-road.

The road was slightly improved in preparation for the race, roughly paved with recycled asphalt. City staff had recommended keeping the road closed, partially because the current condition will likely begin to deteriorate before next year’s race, said Dan Clayton, director of public works and utilities. Staff also noted that the most recent comprehensive plan proposed closing the center section of Quarterpath Road to through-traffic in favor of establishing a new street, Redoubt Road, to connect the land north to south.

The area is also historically and environmentally sensitive, as it was the site of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign during the Civil War and contains wetlands. In addition, part of the current road crosses over the spillway of a dam, and if the road is widened, the dam will need to be widened or replaced, or a bridge might need to be built over the existing dam. City Manager Jack Tuttle told council that although several variables could alter the price, the best estimate to make the road more passable would cost $10 million.

If the city had decided to keep the road closed and convert it into a multipurpose trail, it would cost $22,000 to make some repairs, add signage and install traffic barricades. The road would have still been available for use to emergency vehicles, Tuttle said.

During a citizen comment period, Williamsburg lawyer John Tarley advocated to keep the road open, saying it would encourage people to drive into the city and deliver more people to businesses in the Quarterpath area. “We ought to do what we can to encourage that,” he said.

Vice Mayor Paul Freiling said that from a land use standpoint, closing the road didn’t make sense, especially since the impact of Riverside’s future development of a hospital, retail and housing units in the area is not yet known. He admitted he was torn, however, because he could see the value of a running path in the area. He proposed the road could someday service runners, cyclists and drivers, like the Colonial Parkway.

Knudson thought opening the road would be “a terrible mistake,” however. She said it would take away yet another possible attraction for tourists, and didn’t feel that the road serves enough people to merit the cost of improvements. “The major thing for me was that people who live on the road don’t want it opened,” she said. “So very often, public officials are torn between what’s right and what people want and in this instance, we can do not only what’s right, but what people want.”