City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 17, 2020
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a resolution to support the County of Arlington's Mount Vernon Trail Enhancement Project Grant Application for Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) SMART SCALE funding.
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ISSUE: Consider approval of a resolution to support Arlington's Grant Application for Mt. Vernon Trail Enhancement that includes the portion of the trail in Alexandria north of Jones Point Park for FY 2026 to FY 2027 SMART SCALE funding.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
1. Adopt the attached resolution in support of Arlington's grant application for Mt. Vernon Trail Enhancement to include safety and capacity improvements to the trail within the City of Alexandria; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be required.
BACKGROUND: On March 10, 2020, City Council passed a resolution that authorized the City submission of five FY 2026 to FY 2027 SMART SCALE applications to VDOT and authorized the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be required. However, the National Park Service recently contacted City staff and requested a resolution of support for a project that originated in Arlington County, but which could be expanded to the City of Alexandria. The resolution must be submitted as part of application materials to VDOT, which is expected to make awards in June 2021 for projects scheduled in FY 2026.
DISCUSSION: The County of Arlington submitted a SMART SCALE pre-application in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) to reconstruct portions of the Mount Vernon Trail within Arlington County. Per recommendations in the NPS-commissioned Mount Vernon Trail Corridor Study released in May 2020 (Attachment 2), NPS is interested in extendi...
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