Relocate Battlefield Park Tour Road

Petersburg National Battlefield proposes to relocate a portion of the park tour road and the parking area at the Fort Morton interpretive site in the Eastern Front unit of the park to remove these modern intrusions from the viewshed between the Crater and Fort Morton, provide the public an uninterrupted visual experience of the location of the historic battle that took place here on July 30,1864, and to partially restore the cultural landscape between two important features of this battle. Scoping for the general outlines of this project was begun during the development of the park GMP beginning in 2001 and identified the need to rehabilitate battlefield landscapes. The need for additional access for local recreational users was also identified.

The proposed action also addresses improvements to road conditions at other visitor access points reached by Hickory Hill Road and pedestrian trail improvements near these points.

Three alternatives are considered in the EA. In the No Build Alternative, the current roadway conditions would not change and the park tour road would continue to divide the historic battlefield. Additionally, the No Build Alternative would continue the current visitor access situation on Hickory Hill Road.

The build alternatives describe conceptual plans for relocating the park tour road and the parking area at the Fort Morton interpretive site. The two Build Alternatives propose ways to reroute a portion of the park tour road to the east of Fort Morton in ways that would minimize impacts to vegetation and wildlife habitat and avoid impacts to the archeological, historic and cultural landscape resources in the project area. Both Build Alternatives also include work to upgrade visitor access facilities off Hickory Hill Road and both provide a new Fort Morton/Stop 7 Visitor Parking Lot.

Contact Information

Dave Shockley
(804)783-0171 ex 304