Fairfax City Council Explores Realigning Wilcoxin Trail Extension To Draper Drive

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Fairfax City officials on Tuesday presented a revised plan to extend the Wilcoxon Trail and asked the City Council for agreement to proceed with a feasibility study that would refine the alignment, assess impacts and support public outreach.

Transportation Director Wendy Sanford, joined by Chloe Ritter, multimodal transportation planner, and David Summers, public works director, told the council the project — formerly called the George Snyder Trail extension — received $9.5 million in Smart Scale funding that became available July 1, 2025. The original design called for a 10-foot shared-use path along both sides of Fairfax Boulevard to connect the Wilcoxon Trailhead and the planned eastern terminus of the George Snyder Trail, a project that has since been canceled.

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Sanford said staff now proposes eliminating the northern off-street segment and instead routing the connection north from Draper Drive onto Draper and Beach drives to link with Draper Drive Park and the existing neighborhood trail network.

"This project adheres to the spirit of the original project," Sanford said, adding the change would "connect to on-street paths rather than to the off-street trail."

The southern portion of the originally funded alignment — a widened sidewalk to create a 10-foot shared-use path and a crossing at the signal at Draper Drive — would remain unchanged, according to city staff. The proposed modification would add new sidewalk and on-road bicycle facilities on Draper Drive, activate nearby neighborhoods and connect to Fairfax County’s neighborhood route north of the city line.

Potential impacts identified by staff include the loss of parking on one side of Draper Drive and "some potential minor property acquisition," Sanford said, adding that staff expects minimal to no tree removal but will assess that during study.

Councilmembers sought details on safety, parking and timing. Councilmember Rachel McQuillen asked about lighting and accessibility.

"One of the things we have indicated in our scope is that we want to look at having pedestrian scale lighting along Draper Drive as well," Sanford said.

On parking, a consultant would include a parking study to inventory spaces, determine usage patterns and ascertain whether businesses rely on the on-street parking. "So that whole survey will be part of the effort," Sanford said.

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Councilmember Tom Peterson asked whether the proposed change would affect the Smart Scale funding. Sanford said it would not require reapplication or rescoring, noting the funding is already active: "The funding is actually live right now for us."

Sanford estimated the survey and feasibility work would take about three to four months and staff expects to conduct public outreach in the fall rather than over the summer. The work would be paid from city funds already appropriated for project concept development; Sanford estimated the effort at approximately $110,000 and said no council action is required to authorize the study.

Several councilmembers expressed support for the pivot. Councilmember Stacy Hall said she is "definitely in favor of this" and supports outreach to the county about complementary projects.

Councilmember Stacey Hardy-Chandler praised the proposal as "a reasonable and well thought out pivot" given that the George Snyder Trail no longer exists to connect to.

Councilmember Anthony Amos asked about the likelihood of property acquisitions and the potential for the code to be misused politically; Sanford said staff hopes to avoid relocating utilities and will determine acquisition needs during the survey.

"I do anticipate that there will be some property acquisition that is necessary, but until we get into the survey and see exactly where our property is, I don't want to anticipate at this point completely," she said.

With general support from councilmembers and staff, Mayor Catherine Read indicated the council had the go-ahead to proceed. "Well, it sounds like you have a green light to go ahead and move forward with the feasibility study and all of the things," he said.

Next steps identified by staff:

• Conduct a three- to four-month survey and feasibility study to define design options (shared-use path vs. on-street cycle track), quantify impacts (parking loss, property acquisition, tree removal) and confirm costs remain within Smart Scale funding. Funding for the study is already appropriated.
• Hold public engagement in the fall with nearby residents and businesses about the proposed Draper Drive alignment.
• Return to council with results of the feasibility study and outreach, and seek a formal council decision on whether to proceed with the modified alignment so the city can begin using the Smart Scale funds for final design and construction.