Have you had a chance to take our survey about the idea of a shuttle service to McAfee Knob? Time is running out! The survey will close on December 15th – this Sunday.

McAfee Knob is one of the most photographed spots in the Roanoke Valley, receiving thousands of visitors every year.The Virginia Department of Transportation is working with the National Park Service, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club to install a pedestrian bridge across Route 311, a busy roadway which separates the trailhead parking lot from the trail to the McAfee Knob peak. This project will reduce parking spaces during construction, but will ultimately protect your safety. We’re not expecting long-term parking impacts at this time, but construction will take nine to twelve months. At this time construction is expected to start in 2023.

As part of this project, the Roanoke Valley – Alleghany Regional Commission is reaching out to collect information about how you learned about McAfee Knob. We’re also looking at alternative ways to help you reach the trailhead during construction.

You can take the survey and help inform this process. Thanks in advance for your help!

Greenways are a great asset to the Roanoke Valley. Our community loves walking, biking, and skating on greenways throughout the valley. These trails range from the heavily used Roanoke River Greenway, which extends past Roanoke Memorial Hospital in the City of Roanoke and also contains sections in Salem and Roanoke County, to the winding cinder path of Wolf Creek Greenway in the Town of Vinton. While the size and shape of greenways may vary, all of them are part of a conceptual network for the broader Roanoke Valley which was created with the 2007 Greenway Plan Update.

Now the Greenway Commission and its member localities, with help from RVARC, are ready to revisit that vision. You can participate in shaping that vision by attending one of the meetings below.

Meetings will be broken into two types for this update. Regional Meetings, which focus on the broader regional vision, will be held on March 21st at the Greenfield Education and Training Center in Daleville, and on March 30th at Fishburn Elementary School in Roanoke.

Additional local meetings will drill down into specific, local greenway networks. One will be at Mountain View Elementary in the Hollins area, and will focus on Tinker Creek Greenway. That meeting takes place on March 27th. Two other meetings in Roanoke County will take place at the Glenvar Middle School on April 6th and South County Library on April 3rd. The Town of Vinton will also hold an input meeting in conjunction with Roanoke County at the Vinton War Memorial on April 10th. Additional local meetings may be scheduled by Botetourt County and the City of Salem.

Attendees of all meetings will have a chance to speak to new regional connections and priorities for greenway construction. All meetings will be held at 6:30 pm.

If you cannot make one of these meetings, we encourage you to take the online survey. It should take you about 10-15 minutes on a computer, and a bit longer on a smartphone.