Eastern Shore Rail Trail advances; foundation seeks county support for remaining funding and smart-scale application

Eastern Shore Rail Trail Foundation Executive Director Ron Wolf updated the Accomack County Board of Supervisors on June 17, saying the foundation has secured most of the funding needed to build a 50-mile, 10-foot-wide paved trail along the former Bay Coast Railroad corridor but needs county assistance to secure the final chunks of state and federal funding.

Wolf told the board the project has received a federal grant application for roughly $23,500,000 for an 18-mile portion and state Smart Scale funding of $18,000,000 for a separate segment. He said an earlier federal grant of about $2,500,000 paid for initial work in Cape Charles and that, together, the project now represents “over a $40,000,000” investment once all segments are accounted for.

The trail will run roughly down the center of the Eastern Shore corridor and is designed as a multimodal route: 10-foot-wide asphalt pavement, four funded trailheads (each with parking, restrooms and bus shelters), connections to Star Transit bus service (buses equipped with bike racks), and planned pedestrian crossing signals where the trail meets Route 13 in Cape Charles.

Why it matters: the trail is pitched as a safety, recreation and economic development project that the foundation says will benefit historic railroad towns and provide a multimodal link across Accomack and Northampton counties.

Wolf said the corridor remains privately owned by the railroad company (identified in the presentation as the railroad owner), and the foundation holds a lease to develop and operate the trail. He said the corridor is 66 feet wide and currently hosts utilities including the Eastern Shore Broadband Authority’s fiber trunk and a force main for Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD).

On maintenance and operations, Wolf said the foundation anticipates roughly $150,000 per year in routine maintenance costs (mowing, trash removal, spot repairs) and plans to build a cash reserve to avoid asking county governments for operating funds. He told the board the foundation does not expect the county to assume maintenance costs and that the foundation has studied other rail-trail models to estimate long-term upkeep.

Board members asked about public-safety responses and emergency access. Wolf said both counties’ sheriff departments had agreed to respond to incidents on the trail as they would to other county roads. He also said local EMS has discussed grant-funded options (for example, an all-terrain vehicle) to assist patient extraction from the trail. The board and staff raised questions about bollards and vehicle-blocking measures, who would hold keys for emergency access, and e-bike policy; Wolf said bollards and recessed/hinged gates are planned and that e-bike rules will be decided by the foundation.

Action and next steps: Wolf asked the board to help with one remaining Smart Scale application window (2026 round) because VDOT requires counties — not nonprofit foundations — to be the formal applicant. He said the foundation will prepare the application and paperwork; the board must supply a county official’s signature when the application is submitted.

Provenance: The foundation’s presentation, funding figures and discussion of maintenance, ownership, bus connections, and emergency-access planning were delivered in the board meeting segment by Ron Wolf and appear in the meeting transcript between the board’s introduction of the speaker and the Q&A session.