Fredericksburg Officials Hope To Start Sunken Road Restoration Next Year




June 4, 2002--Officials of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park met last week with their counterparts representing the city, county and Mary Washington College to work out the details of the restoration of the Sunken Road, the main Confederate defensive line on Marye's Heights in the town.




The park already owns the road but the city of Fredericksburg has rights of access to it. The road runs between Hanover Street and Lafayette Boulevard. Besides restoring the road itself to its 1862 appearance, the project includes reconstruction of the stone wall that lines it.




Preliminary plans include building a curb and planting some shrubs at what today is the corner of Sunken Road and Lafayette Boulevard. The greenery will not obstruct the view of Sunken Road from Lafayette Boulevard. When the city voted to close the road concerns were expressed about appearance and handicapped access to the site.




"We told the community we would check with them on certain aspects of permanent changes to Sunken Road, and allow them to have input," said John Hennessy, the park's chief historian.




"I think it needs to be visually apparent it was once a road," said Fredericksburg Mayor Bill Beck, who attended the meeting.




The park service will also build a parking area for handicapped visitors and trolley buses where Sunken Road intersects Hanover Street. It will be built so that vehicles can easily pull off and then pull back onto Hanover Street, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reported.




"We didn't want a situation where cars were pulling in and then having to back out onto Hanover Street to leave," Hennessy said.




Other aspects of the project will include extending the stone wall another 280 feet and restoring the surface of Sunken Road for visitors to walk on. A variety of trails and wayside exhibits will also be installed. Also, a stretch of Mercer Street that now intersects Sunken Road will be closed and there will be another bus and handicapped pull-off area at the corner of Mercer and Willis streets. Some trees also will be removed so tourists have a clear view of the Kirkland Memorial.




"Sunken Road will be a premier attraction after the restoration," said Sandy Rives, the park's superintendent. The road was built in the late 18th or early 19th century and was part of the north-south highway between Richmond and Fredericksburg.




The park will submit a conceptual design of the road to its headquarters advisory board by August, Hennessy said. The work won't actually start, however, until next fall.




"The restoration of Sunken Road will be the most dramatic improvement on any of Virginia's Civil War battlefields in many years," Hennessy said. "For new visitors, it will be a place that greatly aids them in understanding what happened. For repeat visitors, it will allow them to see the battlefield in a way they've never seen it before."

Home state TN

This is great news!! I visited Fredericksburg when I was a kid & took pics so I'll have to revisit when it's restored to compare differences.

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Replying to:

Fredericksburg Officials Hope To Start Sunken Road Restoration Next Year




June 4, 2002--Officials of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park met last week with their counterparts representing the city, county and Mary Washington College to work out the details of the restoration of the Sunken Road, the main Confederate defensive line on Marye's Heights in the town.




The park already owns the road but the city of Fredericksburg has rights of access to it. The road runs between Hanover Street and Lafayette Boulevard. Besides restoring the road itself to its 1862 appearance, the project includes reconstruction of the stone wall that lines it.




Preliminary plans include building a curb and planting some shrubs at what today is the corner of Sunken Road and Lafayette Boulevard. The greenery will not obstruct the view of Sunken Road from Lafayette Boulevard. When the city voted to close the road concerns were expressed about appearance and handicapped access to the site.




"We told the community we would check with them on certain aspects of permanent changes to Sunken Road, and allow them to have input," said John Hennessy, the park's chief historian.




"I think it needs to be visually apparent it was once a road," said Fredericksburg Mayor Bill Beck, who attended the meeting.




The park service will also build a parking area for handicapped visitors and trolley buses where Sunken Road intersects Hanover Street. It will be built so that vehicles can easily pull off and then pull back onto Hanover Street, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reported.




"We didn't want a situation where cars were pulling in and then having to back out onto Hanover Street to leave," Hennessy said.




Other aspects of the project will include extending the stone wall another 280 feet and restoring the surface of Sunken Road for visitors to walk on. A variety of trails and wayside exhibits will also be installed. Also, a stretch of Mercer Street that now intersects Sunken Road will be closed and there will be another bus and handicapped pull-off area at the corner of Mercer and Willis streets. Some trees also will be removed so tourists have a clear view of the Kirkland Memorial.




"Sunken Road will be a premier attraction after the restoration," said Sandy Rives, the park's superintendent. The road was built in the late 18th or early 19th century and was part of the north-south highway between Richmond and Fredericksburg.




The park will submit a conceptual design of the road to its headquarters advisory board by August, Hennessy said. The work won't actually start, however, until next fall.




"The restoration of Sunken Road will be the most dramatic improvement on any of Virginia's Civil War battlefields in many years," Hennessy said. "For new visitors, it will be a place that greatly aids them in understanding what happened. For repeat visitors, it will allow them to see the battlefield in a way they've never seen it before."