The Hampton Roads Regional Trails Report is intended to serve as a resource for trail planning in the Hampton Roads region. As outlined in the HRTPO Fiscal Year 2022 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), this effort investigates the connectivity between major regional active transportation trails and identifies gaps for improvement to help develop a safe and inter-connected multimodal transportation network.

The Hampton Roads Regional Trails Report discusses the history of regional trails and provides an overview of existing conditions, project status (as of August 2022), and planned future trails such as the Chesapeake Bay Southside Loop and the East Coast Greenway – Historic Route. Some of the regional trails highlighted in this report are:

• Birthplace of America Trail/Virginia Capital Trail Extension (BoAT/VCTE) – Currently developing trail that connects the Virginia Capital Trail to Fort Monroe in Hampton and the South Hampton Roads Trail in Suffolk
• Chesapeake Bay Southside Loop – Planned future trail connecting the South Hampton Roads Trail terminus at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, to the Elizabeth River Trail in Norfolk
• Dismal Swamp Canal Trail (DSCT) – Existing multi-use trail along the Dismal Swamp Canal in Chesapeake
• East Coast Greenway (ECG) Historic Route – Planned future trail connecting the Elizabeth River Trail in Norfolk to the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail in Chesapeake
• Elizabeth River Trail (ERT) – Existing multi-use trail in Norfolk
• South Hampton Roads Trail (SHRT) – Currently developing trail that connects Downtown Suffolk to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront
• Virginia Beach Boardwalk – an existing multi-use trail with bike lanes along the Virginia Beach Oceanfront
• Virginia Capital Trail (VCT) – Existing trail connecting James City County to Richmond

HRTPO staff also conducted a Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) analysis on critical parts of regional trails with mixed traffic to assess the safety and comfort of users.

An example of the LTS analysis can be seen in the map below:

The Hampton Roads Regional Trails Report provides a central location to learn more about regional trails and serves as a resource to help monitor the progress of the regional trail system. The draft report was available for public review and comment from June 1, 2022 through June 15, 2022. Comments received from technical stakeholders and the public were addressed in the final report.

Hampton Roads Regional Trails Report is available at the following link or by scanning the below QR code:

https://www.hrtpo.org/uploads/docs/HR_Regional_Trails_Report.pdf