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Richmond Connects ACTION PLAN

Review and submit comments by December 13th, 2023

Priority projects and programs for equitable transportation in Richmond. Result of an almost 2 year planning process focused on equitable community engagement and rigorous data analysis.

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Sam Dec 13 2023 at 8:54PM on page 101

Suggestion

Hospital street as it connects from 5th to Oliver Hill Way -- sidewalks and bike access are nonexistent, and the intersection at 7th street and railroad crossing is dangerous for cars, bikes and pedestrians.

0 replies

in reply to Nick Johnson's comment

Sam Dec 13 2023 at 8:37PM on page 63

Suggestion

It'd be great to see crosswalks for Crawford, Gladstone, Meredith.

0 replies

m. pfohl - BCA traffic comittee Dec 13 2023 at 8:20PM on page 94

Question

the locations for these are not identifiable in this map, please make map locations identifiable.

0 replies

m. pfohl - BCA traffic comittee Dec 13 2023 at 8:13PM on page 58

Suggestion

this sounds great, but richmond is not considering the impacts to neighborhoods when traffic calming techniques are used in roads surrounding a neighborhood,but not within the neighborhood itself. In Bellevue we have seen an increase in cut through traffic at high speeds and running stop signs by drivers to get around brook and laburnum congestion. The approach should include methods to reduce this cut through traffic.

0 replies

m. pfohl - BCA traffic comittee Dec 13 2023 at 8:08PM on page 56

Suggestion

This intersection is in dire need of improvements. Accidents are common and traffic congestion is causing drivers to use the neighborhoods as a cut through at high speeds. A survey of residents by neighboring civic associations show that residents want turning lanes with directional lights, a protective intersection treatment to keep bicycle and pedestrians safe, curb extensions to slow traffic entering the neighborhood and high visibility crosswalks.

0 replies

m. pfohl - BCA traffic comittee Dec 13 2023 at 8:00PM on page 111

Suggestion

Survey of residents by Bellevue Civic Association with Ginter Park, Hermitage Rd and Rosedale neighborhoods show residents are against reducing the median and expanding parking which would give the appearance of wide open space and encourage speeding. residents rarely park on Laburnum due to accidents. Residents would prefer to see funding moved from this project to the Hermitage/Laburnum intersection improvements.

0 replies

Tim Pfohl Dec 13 2023 at 7:53PM on page 111

Suggestion

The Bellevue Civic Association joined with Ginter Park, Rosedale and Hermitage Rd districts to survey residents about Laburnum median changes and found that most residents do not approve reducing the median and widening the parking on Laburnum. The wider lanes and removal of trees would give the appearance of more space and encourage speeding. it would also create a greater risk to pedestrians who use the median as a buffer between lanes to cross safely - contact BCA traffic committee for more info.

0 replies

in reply to John Barclay's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 4:05PM on page 25

Suggestion

Also- intersections involving the existing cycletracks (such as Franklin Street) are still very dangerous for bikers. It would be a relatively cheap solution to eliminate left turn on red, put up "left turn yield to bikes" signs, and to enhance walk signal priority along this entire route so that it's safer for bikers

0 replies

in reply to John Barclay's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:58PM on page 57

Suggestion

I guess the part of this comment that I want to emphasize is the possible synergy in improving Chamberlayne. It is going to be several years before the N-S BRT is finished, but I think it would be possible to begin establishing bus only lanes much earlier, which would be useful to the GRTC's route 1 service, and would also assist with traffic calming by helping to create a completed street that looks less like a highway.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:50PM on page 57

Suggestion

I love the idea of roadway conversion. It feels obvious that Chamberlain Ave has a speeding problem- it looks like a highway to drivers, and so they drive accordingly. I feel like lasting change will occur when Chamberlain has a BRT lane, a bike lane, enhanced pedestrian space, and generally looks like a city street.

1 reply

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:45PM on page 85

Suggestion

It's hard for me to understand why this is a high-priority project for Richmond connects- it even seems like a stretch to make it an EF9. We have a pattern of using money intended for pedestrian, transit, and bike improvement to improve the built environment for cars instead, and seeing this as such a high Richmond connects priority comes across as a continuation of this pattern.

0 replies

in reply to John Barclay's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:37PM on page 107

Suggestion

But as stated this leaves a gap on 5th st from the bike lanes south of Broad to the bike lanes that will begin on Jackson- it would be nice to have a continuous system

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:22PM on page 107

Suggestion

This would really help with west bound bike traffic coming from the east end

1 reply

Tim Pfohl Dec 13 2023 at 3:18PM on page 111

reallocate the partial funding that's been committed for this $1M+ project to safety improvements at the more accident-prone Laburnum/Hermitage intersection where Holton School students and the Fall Line Trail cross Laburnum

0 replies

Tim Pfohl Dec 13 2023 at 3:15PM on page 111

parking may calm traffic in some cases, but in this case the required removal of the mature median trees would have the opposite and greater effect

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Tim Pfohl Dec 13 2023 at 3:13PM on page 111

the leadership of the three adjoining civic associations have surveyed residents in 2023 and all oppose this median narrowing. Instead of spending $1M+ on a year-long project, refocus those funds on bumpouts, bikelanes and the accident-prone Hermitage/Laburnum intersection.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:11PM on page 109

Suggestion

I hope we can have a future where all city busses can have signal priority as a result of this system. A bus that spends less time waiting is able to cover more distance in less time, and therefore can reach a higher frequency without needing to hire more drivers.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:09PM on page 112

Suggestion

It's hard for me to see the direct benefit for citizens coming from this. I understand that LED lights will save money in electricity use, but it seems very unlikely to me that this savings would translate to a benefit consistent with the goals of Richmond connects and thus the average citizen of Richmond, or even end up in a fund that serves transportation growth in the city.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 3:02PM on page 114

Suggestion

The design of the current temporary transfer center creates a foreboding picture of the future permanent site. In order to teach the transfer center east/south bound riders have to make 4 left turns: Broad - 9th, 9th - Leigh, Leigh - 8th, 8th - transfer center. The first 3 of these are at lights which will never be synched, and thus require an extended wait at each point. This adds 5+ minutes to a commute on each end, which is significant. It's important to acknowledge this problem since time wasted on a bus route means lower frequency, lower service, and higher wage costs for the route without increasing the service output. Signal prioritization would help this issue, where waiting busses would be able to bypass most of the wait at the light, but design is also an important component. The transfer station only has 1 entrance, which limits the directions that busses can enter/ exit and requires busses to wait at more lights to access the station.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 2:57PM on page 115

Suggestion

I think that Grace St west of the capitol would also be a great candidate for this

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 2:56PM on page 116

Suggestion

This crossing is also a problem for the 17th st bike lanes accessing the capital trail. It's very hard to cross even though prior to this point it is a protected bike lane. It would be really great to have a raised crosswalk/ bikeway in addition to better signals to allow this to be an easy crossing between the mixed use path (capital trail) and the 17th st bike track.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:34AM on page 118

Question

I'm confused by this- the 14 already runs at a 30 minute frequency (and has for a while).

0 replies

in reply to GH's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:33AM on page 117

Suggestion

Agreed- and: this is a problem for nearly the entire protected bike network in Richmond. I'd love to see the immediate enforcement of parking in bike lanes and bike buffers as well as plans to phase all buffers towards permanent protection.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:31AM on page 114

Suggestion

I hope that we will also be considering bus-only lanes for non-BRT systems as well. The 14 in the diamond district comes to mind. The development of the small area plans such as city center, shoekoe bottom, etc are great opportunities to also plan ways for busses to more efficiently and quickly provide transportation to these areas.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:27AM on page 110

Suggestion

This technology has been in place in other Virginia cities for decades. In the case of Richmond, it would be great to see an integrated system for both emergency vehicles as well as transit. The pulse was supposed to have signal priority as part of it's system, but it only takes watching the bus stopping at every light cycle between scotts addition and Allison st to know that this was never implemented. There's a place for synergy by installing a bus priority and emergency combined system.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:24AM on page 109

Suggestion

Scott's Addition is a very popular area for developers and large-scale housing projects. I'd love to see city efforts to require these developers to complete these streetscape improvements as part of their contracts. The city could save money by establishing standards for developers to follow rather than financing the effort with tax-payer money.

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John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:21AM on page 108

Suggestion

So important!

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John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:20AM on page 108

Suggestion

I love this, and would love to see the project continue east into jackson ward where there are similar speeding problems. and pedestrian needs.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:19AM on page 107

Suggestion

The fall line trail is an amazing improvement in the planning stages, and I love how it is being integrated into other planning efforts. At the same time, we need immediate temporary solutions to bike connectivity and pedestrian connectivity, and would love to see more plans to build temporary bike systems. Chamberlain avenue south bound after I-64 had a closed lane for a year for contruction- this could easily be made permanent and used for a bike lane to connect brook road to downtown.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:15AM on page 100

Suggestion

Without bikeway alternatives and other traffic calming in place, repaving will just exacerbate the speeding and dangerous driving problem in downtown. Smoother roads just encourage more speeding. This project is at odds with the goals of a pedestrian and bike network that's safe and usable.

0 replies

in reply to Robert Sullivan's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:13AM on page 88

Suggestion

Agreed- the 1 is already at capacity and yet they want to wait 10 years to complete this project. I'd love to see ways to accelerate this timeline.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:12AM on page 86

Suggestion

I'm a big supporter of this plan. At the same time, there's an immediate need for a bike connection to the North Side, specifically on that continues the Brook Rd bike lane. I worry that we are putting all of our eggs in Reconnect Jackson Ward fixing this problem, but we need an immediate, temporary solution to this problem. I'd love to see a plan to put up a temporary bike lane on leigh and chamberlain that connects the brook rd system to the downtown bike network.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:10AM on page 81

Suggestion

I feel like temporary intersection narrowing is more effective and likely less expensive than speed bumps. I'd also prefer raised crosswalks over speed bumps.

0 replies

in reply to Nick Johnson's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:08AM on page 71

Suggestion

The current plan is to introduce the "airport express" which departs from the downtown transfer station every hour, according to the TSP. I suspect this will be less effective than a Pulse extension to the airport.

0 replies

in reply to Jason James's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:07AM on page 69

Suggestion

I feel like there are other calming options to consider other than making these roads 2 way. Franklin St, for example, benefitted from the calming effect of losing a travel lane in exchange for a bike lane. I would love to see this on Marshall street as well heading downtown towards VCU, city hall, etc. Many bikers have VCU medical center as their final destination, and this lane could connect into the existing 1st st system. Bike lanes on 1 way streets are nice because there are less points of potential conflict when entering an intersection.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:02AM on page 44

Suggestion

To me this is a "Don't let good be the enemy of perfect" situation. People using alternative transportation options to cars is already a huge improvement in energy efficiency. To me, it is more worth the cost to invest in enhanced GRTC frequency and service, more bike lanes, and pedestrian safetly to get more people out of their cars. Electrification of the transit system is only beneficial after people stop driving everywhere and thus should not be prioritized.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 10:00AM on page 44

Suggestion

I agree that we don't need to be subsidizing car use by installing electric charging stations. The goal of richmond connects in part is to develop and nurture a car-free network. I don't think that subsidizing car ownership should be part of that process.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 9:57AM on page 36

Suggestion

I hope that the next generation of bike-walk streets have more obvious and aggressive street calming. 29th St in Church hill is starkly different before and after N St. The south portion has street calming (traffic circles, bump outs, closed to cars crossing after M st) but honestly this calming is not very aggressive. To me it looks like what most streets in Richmond should have by default. North of N street it is indistinguishable from any other street in the Church Hill, and would be impossible for someone to know that it was a "bike-walk" street just by looking at it.

0 replies

in reply to Henry's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 9:55AM on page 36

Suggestion

The second half of this is very important. Often when the city shuts down streets they also shut down bus service to that location (think the xmas parade with the pulse, 87 with the folk festival). These are times when transit should be showcased as the best option to travel, and often it's instead closed.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 9:52AM on page 25

Suggestion

I really would like to see more intersection narrowing, such as with bump-outs. This can be done very cheaply in a temporary manner using flex posts. The city spent a lot of time in the last year updating intersections for ADA compliance, and could have done this in conjunction with building bump-outs to calm the intersections.

1 reply

in reply to Noah Holmes Foster's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 9:50AM on page 19

Suggestion

In some ways they provide the opposite of the desired effect. A speed bump in the middle of a block encourages drivers to speed in between bumps to make up for "lost time." The highest incidence location is in intersections, located at the end of blocks. Speed bumps can create an incentive for drivers to speed in the exact locations where we want them to be going the slowest. I wish the city had instead installed raised intersections.

0 replies

in reply to Robert Sullivan's comment

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 9:48AM on page 19

Suggestion

In the same vein, when parking in the buffer zone is not enforced it creates two problems. One is the danger of getting hit by a door of a driver exiting their car when parked in the buffer. The other is that drivers who park in the buffer frequently knock over the delineator cones, which in turn exacerbates the problem.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 9:46AM on page 17

Suggestion

Increasing the frequency of the 14 was excluded from the GRTC Draft Transit Strategic plan that just came out. To me this seems similar to the delayed roll-out in the North-South BRT. The 14 is currently the most direct route to the incoming Diamond District, and I wish we were being proactive about future needs rather than retroactive.

0 replies

John Barclay Dec 13 2023 at 9:42AM on page 15

Suggestion

I've been disappointed with the delayed timeline for the North-South BRT (prior to this fall it was supposed to be ready in 2028). If we acknowledge that the 1 is already at capacity, then we really need to prioritize a faster roll-out for these improvements. I hope there's a way that this timeline can be "re-accelerated"

0 replies

Michael M Dec 12 2023 at 7:25PM on page 115

Question

Does this figure include economic costs to businesses? Are those studies (data) available to the public?

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Michael M Dec 12 2023 at 7:24PM on page 115

Question

Does this also include economic costs to businesses? Are those studies available?

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Michael M Dec 12 2023 at 7:22PM on page 115

Question

What other streets might benefit from such temporary or permanent closures?

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Michael M Dec 12 2023 at 7:20PM on page 115

Suggestion

Speaking as a resident in Carytown, I concur that more study is definitely needed before moving forward with any plan to close this vital shopping and transit corridor. Where would all of the traffic that uses Cary, through Carytown, go? Cary serves as a major entryway into the city during weekdays and weekends. Neighbors in Carytown have already mentioned concerns regarding traffic in the area, particularly on the narrow streets that parallel Cary, and I am sure they would not welcome even more traffic being forced down these narrow streets. And what about parking? Also, I would love to hear more about how closing Cary Street helps improve equitable transportation for those who ride GRTC down Cary, through Carytown, particularly when coming and going from work. It seems as if the Tier 1 safety concerns are where Cary meets Arthur Ashe; addressing this area would not require closing Cary the entire stretch of Carytown, but it does suggest that more could be done to improve safety at these high-traffic intersections. Beyond the safety concerns, there are also concerns regarding lifestyle, commerce (what about shipments for businesses?), character, and the experience of those who have lived in the area for many years--Carytown is bordered by residential areas with folks who should have a significant say in the changes that will impact their neighborhood and day-to-day experiences, not just those who like to come to the neighborhood to shop, eat, and more. Finally, as for "car-free shopping corridors," there are perhaps even better candidates in the city, in places where becoming car free might create more commerce and help in revitalization efforts for those neighborhoods (in addition to addressing transportation and safety issues in those areas).

0 replies

MR Dec 12 2023 at 2:29PM on page 107

Suggestion

Reviewing the proposed routes through Richmond that are on the table should be a priority. Some were decided on when existing bike lanes were in the mix instead of a dedicated 10' wide shared path. Richmond has an excellent opportunity to look ahead and encompass the Diamond district area from Brook to Hermitage via Overbrook or Sherwood then north on Hermitage to drive business and patronage within the area and coordinate the new infrastructure. Tearing down existing infrastructure or utilizing eminent domain in established neighborhoods should only be used as a last resort and had better be worth it. Another consideration is Northside (ie. Ginter Park) has many lovely wide medians that could accommodate such paths on existing city ROW with significantly less impacts.

0 replies

Robert Balster Dec 12 2023 at 10:30AM on page 111

Suggestion

I am the President of the Hermitage Road Historic District Association which includes the intersection of Laburnum and Hermitage Road. Our residents have consistently opposed the Laburnum Widening Project. In addition, a survey done by northside organizations only found that 25% of respondents supported the widening. With such overwhelming neighborhood opposition to this project it hard to understand why the city still proposes it. Major concerns include the loss of trees on the median and the likely increases in speeders on a widened avenue. We already have a major traffic hazard at the intersection of Hermitage and Laburnum; why make it worse? I would like to see funds proposed for use in widening Laburnum go to fund improvements in the intersection.

0 replies

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