DAMASCUS, Va. — Eighteen of the 34 miles of Virginia Creeper Trail are still closed after Hurricane Helene damaged several parts along the extensive path, but thanks to a group effort by several agencies, work is progressing.
Michael Wright owns Adventure Damascus Bicycles.
“Normally, this time of year, especially with this kind of weather — we would have hundreds of people in here shopping and biking and running bikes and shuttling but right now, there's just crickets,” Wright said.
Wright is one of the bike shop owners in Damascus patiently waiting for business and the trail to return. According to representatives with the United States Forest Service, which controls the portion of the trail above Damascus, plans are being discussed.
“We're talking about different opportunities to open segments of the trail to really assess what needs to be done to do that, and then come up with a plan long-term plan of what that looks like for us,” said Job Timm of the U.S. Forest Service.
Plans could be hindered by the damage to Highway 58 which is maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
“Highway 58, the damaged portion above Damascus to Straight Branch, is under contract. We are proceeding with construction, looking at roughly a year to get it all completed and all the repairs done. So sometime next fall, we should have it open back up,” said Dennis Sanders of VDOT.
Until then, it's a waiting game for crews anxious to start repairs on the Creeper Trail.
“We're hopeful that we can get some action going out there, that they start building the road back. Then, that gives us hope here in Damascus that we are going to be able to rebuild. As a business, if we hold on long enough, we can make it work,” Wright said.
