Recently the bids came in for the George Snyder Trail $4.6M over budget. Fairfax City Council was presented with four options:
- Fund the difference with $4.6M of city funds
- Request additional concessionaire funding from the VDOT (source of the original funding)
- Value-engineer the plans to reduce the cost and rebid the project
- Cancel the project and repay what has been spent to date ($3.7M)
On November 4th City Council decided to request additional funding. This requires NVTA approval (approximate 3-month time frame). This is the best option in that the city will not need to spend its own money. It also is the most expeditious option ,which is very important because the funds would be obtained before the January 12, 2026 expiration of the bid. After that date the bidders would be permitted to adjust the price upward. Even paring down features of the project and rebidding could take 6 months, with no guarantee that a new bid would come in lower.
We will know if the request for funding is approved either by December 10 or January 6. Even if the funding is approved, City Council still needs to approve the acceptance of those funds.
SO STAY TUNED. WE WILL NEED YOUR VOCAL SUPPORT TO URGE CITY COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE FUNDING AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE TRAIL!