KING WILLIAM — Major changes are coming to King William’s main recreational area with the arrival of a new walking trail and additional parking.
Details of the new trail and a solution to parking issues at King William Rec Park were discussed by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month.
“There’s been a longstanding partnership between Little League and the park,” Deputy County Administrator Steve Hudgins told the board. “They’ve been longtime tenants of the fields … we just thought it was a good way to commemorate that by naming this trail after them.”
The Little League Trail is just under half a mile long. Hudgins said it follows the line of a path that fell into disuse.
“We’ve always had a trail there. It was let go for a number of years. … This was clearing underbrush, cutting low-hanging limbs and providing upgrades to something we already had but had not been utilizing for years,” he said.
The entrance to the trail is behind the dog park. A picnic area with two tables has been created and maintenance workers built bridges over two wet areas.
The trail is marked with green arrows and cost $2,497, according to Hudgins. The county has also signed a $1,800 contract for debris removal at the site.
Hudgins brought up a second phase that would include dog waste stations throughout the trail, a sunscreen dispenser at the start of the trail, more trash cans and a possible expansion of the trail around the whole park.
“There are many grants for trail improvement, trail expansion and anything that has to do with that,” he said.
The board also heard an update on potential parking improvements. Parking has proved problematic, particularly when the park hosts sporting events, but developers of a planned unit development may have a solution.
In February, supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of rezoning 166 acres at the northern intersection of Route 360 and Route 30 to allow a planned unit development called The Orchards at Central Garage, paving the way for more than 600 homes and businesses in a part of the county earmarked for growth.
“In wanting to be good neighbors, they have reached out and proffered assistance to help with this problem of expanded recreation,” County Administrator Percy Ashcraft said.
The developer of The Orchards outlined how additional parking associated with the development could be used to ease pressure on the park.
The developers proposed 183 spots to ease the parking issues with the prospect of another 109 spaces in the future. An access gate would allow the spaces to be used for overflow parking on special occasions.
The board unanimously supported the proposal on July 10.
David Macaulay, [email protected]
