Mayors request CTB delay
In a letter to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, mayors from the nine towns along the Shenandoah Rail Trail asked the CTB to defer action on the proposal to transfer the rail-trail project and its funding through the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority to a private organization. The letter noted that the proposal is “being hurried toward an outcome that appears misaligned with our towns’ economic and quality-of-life interests, but rather is placed with a private entity that has no formal accountability to our communities.”
If you haven’t already, please add your voice!
Here’s the full letter:
December 23, 2025
Commonwealth Transportation Board
Virginia Department of Transportation
Richmond, VA 23219
Dear Members of the CTB:
As elected representatives of the nine towns along the Shenandoah Rail Trail corridor, we ask you to defer action at your January 6 meeting on the proposal to transfer the rail-trail project and its funding to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. This proposal is being hurried toward an outcome that appears misaligned with our towns’ economic and quality-of-life interests, but rather is placed with a private entity that has no formal accountability to our communities.
We are concerned about rushing this process that will impact our communities for generations. We only learned of this proposal after it was unveiled at your December work session in a last-minute addition to the agenda. We had been following VDOT’s work on the rail-with-trail assessment, including the long-promised final step of public engagement, which has not yet happened. So the new proposal at the CTB work session came as an alarming surprise to us.
These nine towns joined with our adjacent three counties to adopt formal resolutions in 2021 endorsing the corridor's conversion into a destination trail. This vision—which preserves the right-of-way for future rail through railbanking—is a proven economic engine. By channeling trail users through and into our downtowns, we anticipate a significant increase in sales for local restaurants, shops, and lodging, providing a crucial revitalization boon for our towns, the Shenandoah Valley, and the Commonwealth.
At the groundbreaking for the restoration of the Creeper Trail in Damascus on December 18, Governor Youngkin and Damascus Mayor Katie Lamb spoke powerfully about the incredible collaboration between the state and the town for a project that will deliver significant benefits to southwest Virginia. With great emotion, Mayor Lamb welcomed the visitors who will shop, dine, and lodge in her town and enjoy her community's hospitality when the project is done next year.
We, too, have been looking forward to welcoming trail visitors into our towns and communities. However, we are concerned that transferring this project to the VPRA will jeopardize these benefits. Any scenario that adds the reconstruction of 49 miles of deteriorated rail line will dramatically increase costs, complicate fundraising, and threaten the completion of a fully-connected, ADA-compliant, destination trail. Furthermore, a tourist train that doesn’t stop in our downtown commercial centers will not deliver the same economic impact as a fully-connected and accessible trail.
This is a public project that will deeply impact our towns. Our communities deserve a transparent and deliberative process that ensures that our localities have a formal role in the oversight of the project’s management and implementation, including the selection of a fully-vetted, credible, and accountable management entity that is the best fit for the project.
We request that the CTB delay action until the rail-with-trail assessment process is completed as originally outlined, including public engagement and consultation with corridor localities, to allow all of us to fully review the options and provide meaningful input on a decision that will shape the economic and transportation future of the Shenandoah Valley for generations.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
ACTION NEEDED: SPEAK UP FOR THE TRAIL
Make sure the CTB hears from you. We need a surge of comments before the January 6 meeting. If you haven’t sent your letter yet, please do so today.
Tell them you:
❌ Oppose transferring the Shenandoah Rail Trail project and funding at this time.
✅ Support a stand-alone Shenandoah Rail Trail as the most realistic, cost-effective option for our communities.
You can act immediately:
➡ Use this link to quickly send your letters
➡ Or, if you'd rather send a note directly from your email, here are the address for CTB members and the VPRA to copy/paste:
Shep.Miller@governor.virginia.gov, Ray.Smoot@ctb.virginia.gov, Frederick.Stant@ctb.virginia.gov, Tom.Fowlkes@ctb.virginia.gov, Wayne.Coleman@ctb.virginia.gov, Darrell.Byers@ctb.virginia.gov, Randy.Laird@ctb.virginia.gov, Thomas.Lawson@ctb.virginia.gov, Laura.Sellers@ctb.virginia.gov, Joel.Davis@ctb.virginia.gov, Linda.Green@ctb.virginia.gov, DJ.Gribbin@ctb.virginia.gov, Becky.Dunlop@ctb.virginia.gov, John.GoodJr@ctb.virginia.gov, JR.Minchew@ctb.virginia.gov, Tiffany.Robinson@drpt.virginia.gov, Stephen.Brich@vdot.virginia.gov, contactus@vpra.virginia.gov
