At White’s Ferry in Leesburg, it’s a short distance between two of our region’s most popular bike trails: the C&O Canal Towpath, which runs along the Potomac River from DC to Cumberland, Maryland, and Virginia’s Washington & Old Dominion Trail. But to get from one to the other, cyclists have to ride along Route 15, which is dangerous.

Base image from Google Maps.

One of our readers wants to know if it’s possible to create a safer connection.

Is there anyway to make it safer to connect the C&O to the W&OD bike paths? White’s Ferry is a great place to cross but Route 15 North is treacherous, especially if you are heading south into Leesburg. I have inquired about this but have either been told “improvements have been made,” or just stonewalled altogether.

The Loudoun County planning department has has looked at the issue, but it’s taken a long time to arrive at a solution. Patricia Turner, the Co-Chair of BikeLoudoun, gives us some background:

In 1999 the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) presented an application to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors via the Virginia’s Transportation Enhancement Program, to create a Leesburg-to-White’s Ferry Bikeway. It proposed retrofitting an 8-foot wide, 1.4 mile shoulder along both sides of US Route 15.

The application for combined federal and state funding (with a percentage match from Loudoun County) was extensive and detailed, and contained scores of supporting letters from citizens and business owners. It also included 12 pages of petition signatures. But alas, the application was turned down, as I remember primarily because the actual cost was re-estimated to be much higher than originally stated.

David Cranor notes that the Loudoun County Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Master Plan, adopted in 2003, addressed the issues of crossing into White’s Ferry. The plan stated that, “Linkages to the C&O Canal, including access to White’s Ferry, are in need of improvement”, and that “Improvements to Route 15, just north and south of the Town [of Leesburg], are underway. On the south side of the Town, a multi-use trail on the west side of Route 15 is planned, and on the north side, to White’s Ferry, wide shoulders are being paved to accommodate bicycles.”

The trail on the west side of Route 15 was never built. The plan also discussed creating a better connection to Ball’s Bluff Battlefield Regional Park and then adding a Riverside trail from there to White’s Ferry. This also never happened.

One of the more interesting suggestions in the plan was to add another ferry somewhere other than White’s Ferry:

The Plan also proposes consideration of new bicycle and pedestrian only ferry services. Two locations have been identified for further study, the old Edward’s Ferry Crossing and Algonkian Regional Park. These could be public or private operations and start as only limited seasonal and/or weekend services.

Turner also mentions that the issue is even more compelling now that it has been sixteen years since WABA brought the application for the Loudoun to White’s Ferry Bikeway to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

A new solution is in the works

A group in Loudoun is currently working on completing county gaps in the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. It’s headed up by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, and supported by the National Park Service, Loudoun’s Department of Parks, and others.

Because of challenges stemming from both topography and land ownership, some of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail in Loudoun will veer away from the Potomac River and onto paved paths. The committee is considering an alternative route from White’s Ferry to the W&OD that would cross Route 15 into subdivisions and link to downtown Leesburg.

This route would enable riders to safely reach the W&OD Trail in town without having to use Route 15.

There is considerable interest from cyclists to make a route that would circle from DC along the C&O to out to Poolesville, Maryland, cross the Potomac at White’s Ferry, and connect to the W&OD for a return trip.

C&O Canal towpath winding near the Potomac River. Photo from the National Park Service.

Turner says BikeLoudoun believes such a route would increase county tourism, providing economic benefits to Leesburg and surrounding areas. Easements and funding issues will have to be addressed in order to make this a reality, however, and the plan has yet to be introduced to the county Board of Supervisors.

“This fall, we hope to get on the docket of the Transportation and Land Use Committee to present the concept,” says Turner. “With their support, the plan will go before the entire Board for discussion and approval.”

More and more frequently, BikeLoudoun gets frequent requests for information about a bicycle connection from White’s Ferry Road to Leesburg, and Turner is hopeful that the long-awaited route will be realized in the near future.

Do you have a question? Each week, we’ll pose a question to the Greater Greater Washington contributors and post appropriate parts of the discussion. You can suggest questions by emailing ask@ggwash.org. Questions about factual topics are most likely to be chosen. Thanks!

Michael Lewis is a native of Montgomery County and currently lives in Olney. He has a BS in Community & Regional Planning from Temple University in Philadelphia. An avid rider of Metrobus and Metrorail, he was formerly a Professional Development Associate at the American Planning Association and an intern at the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County.