In May, the Arlington County Board approved the proposed location for a new pedestrian bridge connection National Landing to National Airport that includes a direct connection to the Mount Vernon Trail. The bridge will span between the VRE station in National Landing over multiple rail tracks and the George Washington Memorial Parkway to connect to the northern section of the airport.

The preferred alignment of the bridge was the result of multiple public and stakeholder meetings that narrowed 16 potential alignments down to the preferred alignment adopted by Arlington County. The County also approved $4 million in funding to begin preliminary engineering work.

The exact alignment of the connection to the Mount Vernon Trail remains to be determined with one option placing the connection mostly on land owned by the airport and another option placing the connection primarily on land owned by NPS.

The next step in the project is to conduct a NEPA review as the project impacts federal land. To see full details of the project and keep up to date, visit Arlington County’s CC2DCA project website.

The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail needs your help to continue improving the trail. Sign up for a volunteer trail improvement event or Donate to Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail to help us purchase tools and supplies.