103 Semi--Green Circle

The (Semi) Green (Semi) Circle

Winchester has a Green Circle or part of a green circle that is part green and is partially finished and partially proposed. That is what I have discovered along with my walking buddy, Trish, another Savvy Broad, and our canine companion Tootsie.

The circle is intended for bikers, runners, walkers, etc. The literature states it is to connect major destinations for citizens and tourists and areas of historic, recreational, educational, and natural interest.

From U.S. 50 along Jubal Early

The seven- to eight-mile circle project began over a decade ago, and progress has been slow and somewhat steady. Recently, a stretch from U.S. 50 through Jubal Early Drive was opened where the new John Kerr Elementary School is located. The trail is wide and nicely landscaped and easy to access from either direction.

Walking east along Jubal Early Drive, there is a section to the right that runs through the Abrams Creek Wetlands Preserve off of Jubal Early Drive that definitely is a green area. This completed one-mile section offers rare Virginia plants and is part of the 25-acre preserve. You can walk this section for some lush greenery and come back to the main trail.

You must enlarge a great deal to be able to read map.
Map has not been updated to reflect recent opening at Jubal Early and 50.

Continuing on Jubal Earl Drive is where it gets a little tricky as it moves along the four-lane drive which is heavily traveled. 

Then it progresses to Millwood Avenue, University Drive, Lowry Drive, Opequon Avenue, and then onto the section that runs along Shawnee Springs to Pall Mall Street. You have to use the map to make the circle that snakes around these streets.


A proposed section that will not include as much traffic will somehow run along Featherbed Lane and then connect with Apple Blossom Drive.

Trying to navigate this curve of this part of the circle takes determination and a willingness to put up with the noise of the traffic, and you must forget this is supposed to be a GREEN circle. 

But there is hope --- a green side to the circle is coming up at this section. The Shawnee Springs Preserve provides a walk through the woods and views of the old city water works site. It runs along the completed Town Run Linear Park Phase I that ends at Pall Mall Street.

When you come to Pall Mall Street instead of continuing on the proposed section, Town Run Linear Park Phase II, that has been under construction for more than a year, you must forgo the green landscape for another streetscape. The new section is locked up tight so no one can enter. I have walked it in past months before the lock was put on, and it appeared to be finished. 







For some reason, it has not been opened but no answers have been given. Hopefully, it won’t be long before the locked fence is taken down and the public will be allowed to traverse the lovely, green section.

Walkers have to continue on Clifford, Cameron, Cork, Loudoun, Boscawen, and Amherst streets to finish the circle, meeting up with the trail along the busy thoroughfare heading west on Route 50.

It has been a challenge to walk the entire circle, but we did not give up. Anyone who wants to try it should go to winchestergreencircle.com to print out a map to follow the proposed as well as the finished trail.

Our city would be an ideal setting for a walking trail that takes us all around the town. For health reasons, this would be very helpful for residents to take to the trail and put in a few miles daily or weekly, plus educate the public on what the city has to offer.

Maybe some day Winchester residents and visitors will have a true green circle that winds through lush landscapes and stays away from heavily trafficked areas of the community. 

We have been reassured by members of city council that it will be a reality, but no timeline has been given. We can only hope and keep on walking!

Savvy Walker Frances