Ground clearing has begun at a parcel along Cinder Bed Road where the United Community of Muslims of the United States of America are building a mosque. This mosque was approved by the Fairfax County Department of Zoning in March 2019 on the west side of Cinder Bed Road in an area dominated by industrial businesses, abandoned houses and truck parking, revealing a section of the Mount Vernon and Franconia districts that is out of character with the rest of the area.

United Community of Muslims plan to build a mosque here.

 

For years, weeds enveloped this two-story white house that was occupied at one time. In recent weeks, the ground has been cleared, Dumpsters are positioned to make way for demolition equipment. This white house is not the only place that was once home to a family along this stretch of this industrial road. There is another house standing back from the road at 7819 Cinder Bed Road that hasn’t been occupied for years. The blue house is barely visible, and has an old “7819” address sign covered with weeds, but county records show it is owned by Bam Properties in Lorton, and calls to the office went unanswered.

At one time, the "cinder" in Cinder Bed Road was a material they used to put down on railroad beds. This was the case in 1872, when there was a railroad through this area with "whistlestop" stations along this stretch of Cinder Bed Road. Now there is a school bus lot, a Fairfax Water office and several industrial-type offices in operation alongside the vacant lots. The owner of a lawn business tried to sell but did not get an offer that met his needs.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has a project on the books designed to fix the intersection of Cinder Bed Road and Newington Road but construction on this $630,000 project doesn’t begin until fall 2024. Possibly Cinder Bed Road could get some improvements as part of this project.

In between, litter and old tires on the roadside are a reminder that there is no one watching out for this place.

Cinder Bed Bikeway

At the north end of Cinder Bed Road, a bike trail that leads off into the woods adjacent to Long Branch creek. The bike trail stops at about a mile into the woods on the east side of Long Branch but there are plans to continue it across the creek, linking up with a trail that goes to the Springfield-Franconia Metro station. This is called the "Cinder Bed Bikeway" and is designated to link to Fort Belvoir, according to a Fairfax County presentation dated May 10, 2021.

The bikeway project has gotten some opposition from local environmental groups but the $14 million project is still being considered with a possible opening date of May 2024, according to the presentation.