East Roanoke River Greenway Gap, City of Roanoke to the Blue Ridge Parkway

East Roanoke River Greenway Gap Feasibility Study

Roanoke County completed an East Roanoke River Greenway Gap Feasibility Study to determine a potential alignment for the last remaining section of the East Roanoke River Greenway between the City of Roanoke and new greenway in Roanoke County near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Two rounds of community meetings were held in 2025 with two surveys. A work session was held with the Board of Supervisors in September 2025 and staff was directed to proceed with Route A, north of the Roanoke River and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. Roanoke County submitted an application for Surface Transportation Block and Carbon Reduction Program funding in September 2025 for thirty (30) percent design plans for Route A. Funding awards are anticipated in Spring 2026.

July 2025 Community Meetings

A second round of community meetings were held on July 9 and 10, 2025, to review and comment on the routes chosen for further study. A total of 28 people attended the meeting at the Charles R. Hill Community Center and 37 people attended the meeting at the Explore Park Visitor Center. All meeting materials are posted at the links below. A survey on the potential proposed routes was open through August 1, 2025.

July 2025 Community Meeting Exhibits and Documents

• East Roanoke River Greenway Gap History, Feasibility Study, Construction Update and Preferred Potential Alignments Summary
• East Roanoke River Greenway Gap Preferred Potential Greenway Routes Map
• East Roanoke River Greenway Gap Vertical Profiles
• East Roanoke River Greenway Gap Typical Sections
• East Roanoke River Greenway Overview Map
• Roanoke River Greenway Status Map

February 2025 Community Meetings

Open house-style community meetings were held in February 2025 to review the history of this section of the Roanoke River Greenway and to review and comment on potential conceptual greenway routes to connect existing segments of the Roanoke River Greenway.

A total of 71 people attended the meeting held on February 5, 2025, at the Charles R. Hill Community Center in Vinton. Another 67 people attended the meeting held on February 10, 2025, at Mount Pleasant Elementary School. A survey to receive comments on the proposed alignments was open for about four weeks and received 292 survey responses.

February 2025 Community Meeting Exhibits and Documents

• East Roanoke River Greenway Gap History, Feasibility Study and Construction Update
• East Roanoke River Greenway Gap Potential Greenway Alignment Alternatives Map
• East Roanoke River Greenway Overview Map
• Roanoke River Greenway Status Map
• February 2025 Survey Results

Greenway plans and the 2022 survey results that were available at the meeting are linked below in the 2022 Community Meeting Exhibits and Documents.

2022 Community Meeting

The Roanoke River Greenway is an important regional project that will eventually run over 30 miles along the Roanoke River linking Montgomery County to Explore Park. As a part of this regional greenway, we evaluated how best to route the greenway from the Western Virginia Water Authority Water Pollution Control Plant to the Blue Ridge Parkway.   

A community meeting was held on June 30, 2022, at the Explore Park Visitor Center to review and discuss preliminary greenway alignments for the area between the Western Virginia Water Authority Water Pollution Control Plant and the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

Nearly 70 people attended the meeting to view the exhibits, to complete a survey and talk about the project with Roanoke County, City of Roanoke and VDOT staff. 

The survey closed on July 15, 2022, and 380 responses were received. 

2022 Grant Application

Roanoke County collaborated with VDOT to determine an overall and reduced project scope that was submitted as a SMART SCALE grant application in August 2022. The project did not score well enough to be recommended for funding.