The town of Vienna is ramping up its efforts to build sidewalks using funds bequeathed to the town by late Town Council member Maud Robinson.
Vienna Town Council members on April 11 unanimously agreed to have the town apply to the Maud Ferris Robinson Charitable Trust for $95,100 to finance final engineering-design work for two sidewalk projects, which would be done by Urban Ltd. The design work will be for walkways on:
• The west side of Courthouse Road, S.W., between Maple Avenue, W., and 450 feet south of Maple Avenue at a cost of $48,000.
• Hillcrest Drive, S.W., from Kingsley Road, S.W., to the cul-de-sac north of Meadow Lane, S.W., at a cost of $47,100.
In addition, the Council on April 11 unanimously agreed to apply to the Robinson Trust for $161,194 to pay for final design of sidewalk projects on three more streets, which will be carried out by Whitman, Requardt & Associates LP for these locations:
• The odd side of Branch Road, S.E., between Locust Drive, S.E., and Valley Drive, S.E. This initiative also will include the odd side of Locust Drive, S.E., from Branch Road, S.E., to Charles Street, S.E.
• The west side of Follin Lane, S.E., from 500 feet south of Alma Street, S.E., to Electric Avenue, S.E.
Vienna Public Works Department officials chose all of those locations to improve safety and pedestrian accessibility. The projects will include new crosswalks and Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible ramps.
Robinson, who died in March 2019 at age 96, left the town $7 million for sidewalk projects, but instructed that the funds be expended within five years. Sidewalks financed by the Maud Ferris Robinson Charitable Trust must be built in places where they aren’t already planned or likely to be funded through grants or new construction.