For years, the spot where the W&OD Trail crosses Sterling Boulevard barely registered as a place at all. It was a stripe of paint and a crosswalk sign, the kind of intersection you crossed without breaking stride on a morning run or an evening bike commute. Then, the week of August 10, 2026, county crews shifted trail traffic onto new connector paths built parallel to the road, and the crossing residents had used without a second thought for years suddenly required a plan.
That single crossing carries roughly 2,000 people a day, according to Loudoun County's own trail overpass project page. It's a number that only becomes visible once the crossing changes shape. Nobody counts foot traffic at an intersection that works fine on its own. They count it when they're planning a bridge over it.
What Actually Changed in August
The detour itself is simple, even if it took years of planning to get there. Trail traffic on both sides of Sterling Boulevard now runs along new connector trails on the east and west edges of the road instead of crossing straight through the middle. Riders and walkers still cross at the existing crosswalk, just from a slightly different angle and a slightly longer approach. The county's guidance is straightforward: use extra caution near the work zone, watch for construction vehicles, and expect the rerouted path to stay in place for as long as the bridge takes to build.
That timeline runs through spring 2028. This isn't a weekend closure or a summer detour that reverts by fall. It's the new normal for the next year and a half of trail use in Sterling, which matters if you're the kind of resident who treats the W&OD as a commuting route rather than a scenery loop.
Why the County Is Building a Bridge Over a Crosswalk
The project has been talked about for a decade before a shovel ever touched the ground. Supervisor Koran Saines, who represents the Sterling district, has pushed for a safer crossing at this exact spot since he took office in 2016, when there were no plans at all for the intersection. At the groundbreaking ceremony in April 2026, he called it a "long, long, long-awaited project," according to Loudoun Now—about as direct a summary as you'll get from an elected official standing at a podium.
The Board of Supervisors approved the contract back in October 2022, and the total project cost lands around $13.3 million, covered mostly through general obligation bonds, with smaller contributions from local tax funding and developer proffers. When it's finished, the bridge will lift pedestrians, cyclists, and even horseback riders clear of Sterling Boulevard traffic entirely, replacing the at-grade crossing that has handled all of that volume on a four-lane road for as long as most current residents can remember.
It's a strange kind of milestone. The construction fence and detour signs are the most visible thing happening to Sterling's trail network right now, but the actual goal is to make this stretch of the W&OD as forgettable as it used to be, just without the risk of crossing a live traffic lane on foot.
The Trails That Still Run Straight Through Sterling
While the Sterling Boulevard crossing sorts itself out, the rest of the trail system a few minutes away hasn't slowed down at all. Algonkian Regional Park, an 838-acre stretch along the Potomac, has three distinct trails worth knowing by name rather than just "the park trails."
| Trail | Distance | What you'll find |
|---|---|---|
| Woodland Trail | 2.1-mile loop | Flat, mostly natural surface, the easiest option for an unhurried afternoon near the river |
| Sanctuary Trail | 2-mile loop | Runs through a 30-plus-acre wetland section on Lowe's Island, home to wildlife that includes bald eagles |
| Potomac Heritage Trail spur | 12.1 miles one-way | The long option, following the river corridor all the way to Great Falls |
None of these require an entrance fee if you live in Arlington, Fairfax, or Loudoun County, or in the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, or Falls Church. Visitors from outside that footprint may run into a vehicle fee, especially on weekends, which is worth knowing before you invite friends from farther out for a Saturday hike.
The Sanctuary Trail in particular is easy to overlook if you've only ever thought of Algonkian as the park with the waterpark and the golf course. It's a quieter corner of the property, protecting a wetland habitat on Lowe's Island that's home to bald eagles among other wildlife, a detail most people never learn unless they've walked it.
The Park Calendar That Doesn't Pause for Construction
A few miles from Algonkian, Claude Moore Park keeps running its own seasonal rhythm regardless of what's happening on Sterling Boulevard. The park covers more than 350 acres and includes the Lanesville Heritage Area, where an 1760s farmhouse and its outbuildings give the woods and ponds a layer of local history most visitors don't expect to find tucked into a county park.
Every fall, the Friends of Claude Moore Park host the Fall Fest and Photo Expo, a tradition that's been running long enough that the photo competition is now well into its double digits in annual editions. The format doesn't change much year to year: handmade crafts from local artisans, pumpkin painting, live music, and a petting zoo that keeps younger visitors occupied while the adults wander the historic buildings. It's typically held on a Saturday in the back half of September, so if you haven't already checked the county's parks calendar for this year's exact date, that's worth doing before you plan around it.
Later in the fall, the Friends group also puts on Holiday in the Park, when the Lanesville House gets decorated for the season and opens for evening tours under string lights. It's a smaller, quieter event than the Fall Fest, but it's the kind of thing that only shows up on a local calendar, not a regional one.
What This Actually Means for the Next Two Years
None of this is a reason to avoid Sterling's trail system this fall. If anything, it's a reason to get more familiar with it than you already are. The detour at Sterling Boulevard is temporary, but it's also a rare moment where the county is telling you, in plain construction-sign language, exactly how much daily foot and bike traffic depends on a single crossing most people never thought twice about.
If you're someone who runs, bikes, or walks the W&OD as part of a regular routine, this is the season to test the new connector paths and figure out whether they add thirty seconds to your route or barely register at all. If your trail use has always centered on Algonkian or Claude Moore rather than the W&OD corridor itself, the construction on Sterling Boulevard won't touch your weekend at all, which is its own kind of useful information.
Either way, the park system that makes Sterling what it is on a Saturday morning is still fully open, still free for county residents, and still changing in small ways worth paying attention to.
If you've got questions about what's happening in Sterling beyond the trails, from new development to what a particular corner of the neighborhood is actually like to live near, Lindene Elise Patton knows this area block by block. Let's Connect.
