Category Archives: transportation

Plans for Zip Lines Across James River

Posted on by
2

Last night at the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting, most of the discussion was about Venture Richmond forcing a 10,000 person theater upon the neighborhood, with no restrictions.

There was also a short presentation by Kern Smith on a business plan to put zip lines across the James River in several places, including a site near the Lee Bridge on Oregon Hill’s side. It remains to be seen if this will be considered an acceptable use under the James River Park Conservation Easement.

Here is a video of a zip line, similar to what is being proposed, in action in San Francisco:

Bicycle Film Festival Weekend Kickoff

Posted on by
Reply

The new Bicycle Film Festival brings the awesome to RVA for 2013. It’s a whole weekend of bikes, bikes, bikes, and more bikes and it starts right here in Oregon Hill:

Friday, 9/6
BFF Opening Party @ Bunnyhop Bike Shop
349 South Laurel Street
8pm -10pm
FREE. Come by. Say hi. Get stoked.

Saturday, 9/7
BFF Pizza Crawl @ Carytown Bicycle Company
3112 West Cary Street
4pm Registration
5pm Ride
$10 for pizza & crawl
$20 includes t-shirt
https://www.facebook.com/events/484377448325453/

Sunday, 9/8
BFF Film Programs @ The Byrd Theater
2908 West Cary Street
Different film programs @ 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm
$10 per program
$15 for all-day pass

Lanie Kruszewski Memorial Ride Set For Sunday

Posted on by
Reply

From WRIC:

RICHMOND, VA—A group bicycle ride in memory of Lanie Kruszewski is set for this Sunday.

Monday marks the one year anniversary of the night the 24-year-old was struck and killed while riding her bicycle along River Road.

Elias Webb, the Richmond man convicted of felony hit-and-run in connection with the July 29th wreck, was sentenced in July to three years behind bars. In February, it took a jury of four men and 10 women just less than three hours to reach the verdict.

A group bike ride to remember Kruszewski is set for the evening of Sunday, August 4.

The 14-mile ride will go to the corner of River Road and Bridgeway Road, where a memorial for Kruszweski has been set up.

Riders are asked to meet Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Oregon Hill Outlook where Laurel Street meets the river.

Celebrate Richmond Bike Month Friday

Posted on by
Reply

From City press release:

Richmond, VA — Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ Pedestrian, Bicycling, and Trails Commission invites the city of Richmond to participate in Richmond Bike Month during May. The goal of the 2nd Annual Richmond Bicycle Commuter Challenge to show how easy, affordable, and healthy bike commuting can be.

“The Richmond Bicycle Commuter Challenge is a great way for our residents to learn and experience the tremendous health and sustainability benefits of bicycling. It is my hope that local businesses and large employers alike partner with us to promote a healthy Richmond, and be a central resource in increasing the overall health of our city,” commented Mayor Jones. “My Administration has the goal of making Richmond one of the most bicycle and pedestrian-friendly cities in the country.”

Participants are encouraged to ride their bicycle to and from work, and report days commuted at the end of each week for the entire month of May. Riding a bicycle for only part of the commute, such as to join a car pool, ride the bus can still be counted. Participants can register now online and log their weekly commutes at www.riderichmond.net/bike-month-commuter-challenge. All commutes must be reported on the website by Friday, June 7, and the results will be announced by Friday, June 15.

“This is an opportunity to encourage everyone to try bike commuting and possibly make cycling a routine as well as a healthy travel option for commuting or running errands. Richmond Bike Month will also allow Richmond area cyclists to see the City’s infrastructure improvements, including widespread bike parking racks and improved bike routes across the city,” said the City’s Bicycle Coordinator Jakob Helmboldt.

Mayor Jones and the Pedestrian, Bicycling, and Trails Commission will celebrate Richmond Bike Month on Friday, May 17, 2013, at 7 a.m. during the Bike to Work Day rally at Monroe Park, 620 West Main Street. The public is encouraged to attend and participate by bicycling to work that day.

Motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians have shared rights and responsibilities when using city streets. Please visit the Richmond Bicycle Commuter Challenge link on www.Richmondgov.com for safety tips and laws.

# # #

Letter to City Council On Historic Canal

Posted on by
1

Neighbor Charles Pool sent this email to members of City Council yesterday.

(Ed. note: He received permission to send them an attachment of the “Tiller” magazine article, but I have not received permission to post that here. If I do receive it or a public website link to it, I will be sure to post it here.)

Dear Richmond City Council members,

Please take time to read the article entitled, “New Richmond Amphitheater Endangers Canal Plans” by Elizabeth Davis in the attached Winter/Spring 2013 edition of the “Tiller,” the wonderful publication of the Virginia Canals and Navigations Society (VCNS).

This article highlights the threat to the historic canal by Venture Richmond’s proposed amphitheater. If the canal bank is lowered as proposed, it would destroy the long-range plan of a canal boat trip to Maymont. Concern for our canal has arrived from as far away as Yangzhou, China, where the World Canal Conference “urged the people of Richmond, Virginia to prevent further destruction to the canal and to preserve, restore, interpret and wisely use this irreplaceable amenity for Virginia and her visitors.”

Other cities would be envious of our canal, running through the heart of downtown Richmond, that was promoted by George Washington at Mount Vernon, the canal company’s honorary President!

As noted in the “Tiller” editorial by Holt Messerly, “I want all people to enjoy this precious national resource for the betterment of Richmond, and for the preservation of our history and for the enjoyment of all — not just for someone to be able to cut the grass easier and see a straighter line to an amphitheater. We must look at the big picture and consider all of the areas as one big entity; a green way with a blue way …”

Continue reading →

From The Plan…

Posted on by
Reply

…, the Richmond Connects transportation draft plan that is-

Looks like the Idlewood roundabout proposal made the Safety Project draft map. Also notice the 2nd Street Connector marked in blue as a new street.

for the next map, use this legend-

Of course, there’s a lot more to the Richmond Connects plan (buses, trains, etc.) and there is still time to submit comments.

(I will not relate all the comments I made, except that I did suggest mass transit options for our riverfront parks as a solution to parking/traffic nightmares.)

Transportation Transportation Transportation

Posted on by
2

It’s that time of year when folks charge into Spring and the issue of transportation is often on their minds.

On this Thursday from 4 to 6 pm, the Richmond City Council GRTC Task Force will be holding a meeting at the Department of Economic Development office at Main Street Station.

Speaking of the City’s Dept. of Economic Development, the Richmond Connects Draft Plan is now ready for public review. They are inviting folks to review the plan and attend their public workshop on April 11th at the VDOT Central Office Auditorium from 5:30-7:30 pm. There will be a presentation on the draft plan and opportunities to review and comment on the plan and ask questions of the city and consultant staff about the plan. If you can’t make the meeting they still welcome your thoughts. You can download a copy of the draft plan from their website: http://www.yesrichmondva.com/transportation-development/Richmond-Strategic-Multi-Modal-Transportation. Comments on the draft plan will be accepted at the meeting and via email through May 10th. Anyone can comment on the plan through the contact link on the website.

And then there is this message from the local Partnership for Smarter Growth–

The theme for PSG’s 2013 Forum and Events Program is Transportation Transformations for a Competitive and Sustainable Future. The first event is on April 16 with Jeffrey Tumlin of Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, the author of the new book Sustainable Transportation Planning: Tools for Creating Vibrant, Healthy and Resilient Communities. It will be held at Richmond’s Main Street Station on April 16 from 5:30 to 7:30. Registration is at 5:30 and the program will start at 6:00. Admission is free, but registration is requested. Jeffrey Tumlin is a compelling speaker on the subject of transportation, and it will be a very informative and interesting program. For more event information, go to www.psgrichmond.org.

Some suggested reading material to brush up on local transportation issues:

Times Dispatch column by Mayor Jones, “A new direction for transportation in Richmond”

Recent Style magazine article on passenger rail, “Gathering Steam”

Richmond Magazine’s “Where Do We Go From Here?”

Richmond Riverfront Corporation Proposes Elevated Bike Tubes As Part of 2015 Race Preparations

Posted on by
Reply

It’s already been quite a morning for riverfront development plans, and yet there is more…

Overlooking the Haxall Canal, a representative from the Richmond Riverfront Development Corporation made this announcement:

“Some of our corporate members are concerned about the daily dangers for our commuter drivers and workers presented by bicyclists who insist on riding in the same riverfront area streets as motorized vehicles, therefore, we are proposing to building separate but equal, elevated bike lane tubes. In addition to increasing safety, this project will represent a major contribution to the 2015 UCI World Road Cycling Championship race that will be held in our fair city.”

Skycycle screen shot

The curiously unnamed representative declined to put a cost to this bike tube project, noting that this still needed to be worked out within the public/private partnership. While it was not stated, it seems likely that this project will be done in tandem with the James River Skyway project and Japanese-Italian conglomerate Fuki-Trani. Elevated bike lane tubes are all the rage in the urban design world since last year, when landscape architect Sam Martin proposed Skycycle, a separated, elevated system of bike lanes for London.

Locally, elevated tubes were mentioned several times at the recent Envision This Challenge for Shockoe Bottom, a contest that sought to gin up plans to connect the Bottom and the Slip.

Members of the Richmond bicycling community seemed more surprised than anyone else. City Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Trails Coordinator Jakob C. Helmboldt and New Sportsbackers Bike Advocate Max Hepp-Buchanan have not stated anything in relation to this announcement yet. Though longtime City watchers have also been whispering about future Richmond ‘tube projects’ for a while now, including a new, improved Church Hill tunnel and ‘high speed vacuum’.

Breaking News: James River Skyway Announced

Posted on by
8

This morning an Italian-Japanese conglomerate, Fuki-Trani Ltd., announced plans for an exciting new riverfront project, a high-speed cable car crossing the James River. The preliminary design would have one side of the crossing originating at a station on a portion of Oregon Hill near the Overlook townhouse complex, with heavy duty cable going over the James River and the Belle Island park to the other terminal station on top of the Riverside Apartments building on Riverside Drive on the south side.

Example of gondola lift/skyway at Sulphur Mountain in Alberta, Canada:

Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones and Councilperson Parker Agelasto were beaming as they briefed a few media members on the outline of the deal in the first floor of City Hall late last night. “This represents a fantastic opportunity to leverage Richmond’s natural assets and create jobs,” said Mayor Jones. “What a beautiful way to connect the opposite sides of the James River, the City, and the 5th District,” added Councilperson Agelasto.

The amount of investment by the Fuki-Trani group is estimated at between 8 and 10 million dollars, and the City of Richmond is putting in $2 million into the project initially. Dominion Resources had to approve of the project in advance because it will use airspace above their riverfront headquarters facility. The Oregon Hill station will require zoning changes as it adaptively re-uses the land where Overlook construction ceased and there are a few town home foundations. (Residents may recall at one point a developer from Cleveland was considering them a few years ago). According to preliminary plans, the station would operate from 6 am to 11 pm and employ 2 to 3 people with a small walk-up snack bar. Rides would cost between $5 to $8, though a commuter/student discount may be possible. Some nearby residents along the Oregon Hill Parkway have already expressed concern for noise from the station.

Fuki-Trani spokespeople offered few other details at this time, though they did say that they were already looking at possible future skyways in other parts of Richmond. Here is some additional information on gondola/cable car lifts, courtesy of Wikipedia:

While gondola lifts are traditionally used for ski resort purposes, in recent years they are finding increased usage in urban environments as seen in the installations of the Metrocable (Medellín), Portland Aerial Tram, Metrocable (Caracas) and Cable Aéreo (Manizales). The Metrocable systems in Medellin and Caracas are fully integrated with the public transit network which provides passengers the ability to seamlessly transfer to the local metro lines. London, UK, has built Emirates Air Line (cable car) for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
In terms of urban gondola systems for the future, TransLink in Metro Vancouver has proposed to build a gondola up Burnaby Mountain to Simon Fraser University in an announcement in September, 2010.
In late 2012, a widespread aerial gondola system was proposed for Austin, Texas in an effort to expand mass transit options in the rapidly growing city.