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Williamsburg, W&M officially opens Monticello Avenue multi-use trail

W&M President Katherine Rowe and Mayor Doug Pons are joined by Williamsburg Area Bicyclists and Colonial Road Runners at the new bike path dedication along Monticello Ave. at the corner of Compton Drive, on the campus of W&M Oct. 1, 2020.
W&M President Katherine Rowe and Mayor Doug Pons are joined by Williamsburg Area Bicyclists and Colonial Road Runners at the new bike path dedication along Monticello Avenue at the corner of Compton Drive, on the campus of W&M Oct. 1, 2020.

Although open since the completion of construction in September, the Monticello Avenue multi-use trail officially received a blessing from city and William & Mary officials.

That was in a way of a ribbon-cutting on Thursday.

Williamsburg Mayor Doug Pons and William & Mary President Katherine Rowe spoke to a crowd that included members of local cycling and running clubs, including BikeWalk Williamsburg, Colonial Road Runners, Williamsburg Area Bicyclists, and Virginia Capital Trail Foundation.

“This trail is going to benefit citizens and students for years to come. It is a safe way for people to travel and explore our city in an exciting and special way. Thank you to everyone with the city who made this possible. I look forward to more collaborations like this,” Rowe said during the ceremony.

The trail makes it safer for William & Mary students, pedestrians, runners and cyclists to travel between midtown and New Town, according to a news release from the city.

In 2019, the Road Runners Club of America designated Williamsburg a Runner- Friendly Community; in 2017, the League of American Cyclists named Williamsburg a Bicycle-Friendly Community.

Construction of the trail is part of a larger reconfiguration that is happening in the Midtown area of the city.

Midtown Row is the transformation of the Williamsburg and Monticello Shopping Centers into a mixed-use development that will include apartments, shopping, dining and entertainment, city officials said.

Street improvements along Monticello Avenue are designed to coordinate with the trail and include a two-way separated bike lane with which the trail connects.

William & Mary President Katherine Rowe, Williamsburg Mayor Doug Pons, Student Assembly Vice President Kyle Vasquez, cut the ribbon to dedicate the new bike path along Monticello Avenue at the corner of Compton Drive, on the campus of W&M, Oct. 1, 2020. They are joined by (L to R) a Williamsburg Officer, Williamsburg Council Member Ted Marlin (MBA ’80), Williamsburg Council Member Barbara Ramsey (’75) , Dan Clayton, director of Public Works and Utilities, and a William & Mary Police officer.

“The Monticello Avenue Multi-Use Trail is a beautiful amenity added to the Midtown corridor. The transformation sets up the City for new and exciting successes for decades to come,” Pons said in a prepared statement.

The city was awarded a $1 million grant for the nearly $1.6 million project to construct the multi-use trail.

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John Mangalonzo
John Mangalonzohttp://wydaily.com
John Mangalonzo (john@localdailymedia.com) is the managing editor of Local Voice Media’s Virginia papers – WYDaily (Williamsburg), Southside Daily (Virginia Beach) and HNNDaily (Hampton-Newport News). Before coming to Local Voice, John was the senior content editor of The Bellingham Herald, a McClatchy newspaper in Washington state. Previously, he served as city editor/content strategist for USA Today Network newsrooms in St. George and Cedar City, Utah. John started his professional journalism career shortly after graduating from Lyceum of The Philippines University in 1990. As a rookie reporter for a national newspaper in Manila that year, John was assigned to cover four of the most dangerous cities in Metro Manila. Later that year, John was transferred to cover the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines. He spent the latter part of 1990 to early 1992 embedded with troopers in the southern Philippines as they fought with communist rebels and Muslim extremists. His U.S. journalism career includes reporting and editing stints for newspapers and other media outlets in New York City, California, Texas, Iowa, Utah, Colorado and Washington state.

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