W&OD Trail To Close In Ashburn For Dominion Electric Line Work

Ashburn VA

07 October, 2021

10:27 AM

Description

ASHBURN, VA — Dominion Energy will be closing a portion of the W&OD Trail in Ashburn to allow the utility company to replace a conductor on a 230-kilovolt electric transmission. Flaggers and spotters will be onsite along the W&OD Trail, and signs will be posted at specific locations to notify trail users of detours and to ensure the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, Dominion said. A 3.6-mile section of the W&OD Trail will be closed Monday, Oct. 18 through Friday, Oct. 22. The trail will be closed between the Loudoun County Parkway to just east of Claiborne Parkway. A five-mile detour, mostly along Gloucester Parkway, will be provided for pedestrians and cyclists. The detour is designated by the purple line in the map provided by Dominion. (Courtesy of Dominion Energy) Dominion said the electric transmission work, called the Beaumeade to Pleasant View project, is necessary to maintain electric reliability for its customers. The 230-kV transmission line connects Dominion's Beaumeade Substation on Smith Switch Road to the Ashburn Substation near Claiborne Parkway and ends at the Pleasant View Substation off of Cochran Mill Road. The 100-foot-wide W&OD Trail is 45 miles in length, running from the Shirlington neighborhood in Arlington to Purcellville in western Loudoun County. The W&OD takes its name from the railroad whose trains ran along the right-of-way from 1859 until 1968. When the W&OD ceased operations in 1968, the Virginia Electric and Power Company, now doing business as Dominion Energy, bought the right-of-way to place its electric transmission lines. The first segment of the W&OD Trail opened in 1974 within the city of Falls Church. This portion was built as the result of a special agreement with VEPCO. The rest of the trail was built in sections, including through Ashburn, until its completion to Purcellville in 1988.