Construction underway for bridge in Jordan Park in Charlottesville

Work has begun to build a new way to cross Pollocks Branch in a park in southern Charlottesville. 

The city is using around $175,000 in Community Development Block Grants to build a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge in Jordan Park. 

“The bridge will allow users of the Moores Creek trail to cross the tributary to access the trails west of Jordan Park playground and basketball courts and continue towards 5th Street,” said trails planner Chris Gensic in a press release sent out on May 29. “Currently the Rivanna Trails Foundation footpath crosses the creek with a rock hop.”

Pollocks Branch runs south of downtown Charlottesville before entering Moores Creek. Both eventually flow into the Rivanna River, which in turns flows into the James River. Pollocks Branch is buried in a pipeline that runs underneath Kindlewood and the Ix Art Park before daylighting south of Elliot Avenue. 

In 2014, the city purchased 20 acres of land in Albemarle County just across from Jordan Park that was the location of the former Hartman’s Mill. So far, the site is not open to the public. 

“We have explored it and found the mill race remains, stone foundation, and one of the mill stones,” said Chris Gensic, the city’s trails planner. “We have not done anything on the county’s side as we had some access issues that are improving with development on Avon Court.”

Some of the land is on the city’s side of Moores Creek and Gensic said that land has been used to extend a trail. He added negotiations are ongoing to extend a trail that would be accessible via the Americans With Disabilities Act along a sewer line. 

Gensic said the work in Jordan Park is not the only trail construction project that will happen this year in the city. 

“A few other projects in the works for construction soon are Meadow Creek from Greenbrier Park down to Michie Drive (ADA stone dust and 2 bridges), improving lower Meadow Creek new trail at Lochlyn hill/Locust Meadow to stone dust/ADA (probably this winter), and building the paved trail connection from the YMCA down to the West McIntire/250 bypass trail behind the fire station, also hopefully this winter,” Gensic wrote. 

To learn more about city trails, take a look at the Parks and Recreation website. 

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