The Huckleberry trail is a popular path for area residents.

Related: Map (Adapted from huckleberrytrail.org)

The total distance between the two is 5.76 miles and the path is marked every half mile .

The trail links green spaces in both towns and Montgomery County and sees foot and bicycle traffic in all seasons for recreation, sightseeing and exercise.

Built in part along disused railroad tracks, the Huckleberry Trail was set up in the '90s as a way to link several county and municipal parks and connect Blacksburg and Christiansburg with a foot- and bicycle-friendly path.

The trail also connects to several notable historical sites such as Merrimac Mine and the Mile-Long Tunnel.

As Blacksburg grows, however, changes are coming that will affect the trail. This popular place for residents to run, jog, bicycle or commute between Blacksburg and Christiansburg will undergo construction on both ends.

Friends of the Huckleberry is a local nonprofit that advocates for the trail. Friends uses local contributions as matching funds for state and federal grants to make repairs, upgrades and additions to the trail.

The organization is now planning an extension from the trail's intersection with the US 460 bypass to the Hethwood apartment complex that would allow an alternate bicycle and foot commuter route from Hethwood to Virginia Tech's campus.

The trail spur begins at a gravel road where the current Huckleberry Trail passes under US 460. There, the trail turns south and heads toward Christiansburg. The spur will loop north through some of Tech's research facilities to the east side of Stroubles Creek, eventually ending in Hethwood.

Half of the funds raised for the addition went to Blacksburg engineering firm Andersen & Associates, which is designing the trail. The other half will go toward construction.

Andersen & Associates is the same engineering firm involved in the controversial 1st and Main development project on Blacksburg's South Main Street.

Friends also wants the Huckleberry to eventually connect to Blacksburg's Gateway Trail into the national forest, as far as Pandapas Pond — a popular destination for bicyclists, according to plans.

On the Christiansburg end, plans are in motion to extend the trail from the New River Valley Mall over Route 114 to downtown Christiansburg, and off-grade crossing (a bridge or underpass tunnel) will be built to safely cross 114.

A further change coming to the Huckleberry Trail has some supporters and residents feeling uneasy.

The Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport plans to extend its runway, which at present ends at Tech Center Drive near some dairy sciences facilities and a power substation.

Because of FAA safety regulations, these buildings will have to be moved, along with the Huckleberry Trail.

"I don't understand why we need to move these buildings for this dinky little airport while in Roanoke the planes shake the buildings of the shopping center they fly over taking off and landing," said Blacksburg Corridor Committee member Paul Smeal.

The Blacksburg Corridor Committee manages greenways within the town. Smeal's chief concern is that the trail will be dangerous to pedestrians in its new location.

In a letter to Airport Authority Director Michael St. Jean, Smeal called the current intersection between the Huckleberry Trail and Tech Center Drive "the most dangerous on the VT campus" and said that an off-grade crossing at the new CRC road being built to sidestep the runway expansion should be included in FAA-funded infrastructure modifications.

"As I understand it, if it isn't there now, the FAA won't pay for it," Smeal said.

"Right now we have a lot of help from Bill (Ellenbogen) at Friends of the Huckleberry and Joe Meredith at CRC. When the students are back, I'd like to see some groups like the Sierra Club get involved in this," Smeal said. "Right now, I'm not sure if Rick Boucher knows anything about this."

On April 8, Blacksburg Town Council passed a resolution calling for cooperation between all parties involved in building an off-grade crossing at Tech Center Drive.