Commission Report Calls for Major Changes in Richmond
On February 28, Richmond City Council approved the November, 2010 report issued from Mayor Dwight Jones’s, Pedestrian, Bicycling and Trails Commission recommending changes to make the city a more bike and pedestrian friendly city.
The Commission was composed of city staff, business leaders, educators and interested citizens from the area.
According to Ninth District Councilman Doug Conner who sponsored the ordinance calling for adoption of the report, “the City of Richmond has tapped into a group of Citizens that have an abundance of energy and follow through and I look forward to getting more of these folks participating in the City’s Boards and Commissions. They are a great source of talented potential partners.”
Among the recommended changes in the report were hiring a full time bike and pedestrian coordinator, creating an education and safety program and adopting a Complete Streets policy in the city.
The report also recommended a phased implementation of routes and greenways which would connect major attractors and for a capital improvement fund to be created to implement these plans.
Among the findings were results of a citizens survey which indicated that nearly 98% of respondents felt that making Richmond a more bike and pedestrian friendly was, “Important” or “Very Important” to citizens.
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How many respondents were there to the citizens survey? Just trying to figure if the survey had a large enough sample group. Thank you
Now only if Henrico would do the same. Congratulations Richmond!
bikerguy,
>1200 responses. See Appendix I of the report (p. 185).
This is truly a landmark achievement for Virginia’s capital city. Congratulations! The annual city budget development and approval process, which is probably now already well underway, is the perfect time to press for implementing the report’s recommendations. The budget approved by City Council should include the salary and benefits for the new bicycle and pedestrian coordinator position and perhaps for walking and bicycling promotion, education, and safety programs, and the next capital improvement program should include funding for pedestrian and bicycle facilities and for greenway development.
Good luck with this one.
The city has completely screwed up every single bicycle infrastructure project they have ever attempted. Anyone remember the “death lane” they tried to stick on Hermitage road a few years back? That was a complete disaster, exposing cyclists to right hooks, a lane consisting entirely of broken gutter pans, limited sight lines, lanes in a door zone, etc.– basically every possible feature of bad bike lane design compacted into a couple of hundred feet.
Or how about the old door zone lanes in the Fan?
The designs for Forest Hill aren’t inspiring confidence either.
I attended several of the advisory meetings, and at times it seemed more interested in attracting positive press than actually implementing something of value.
I have little hope for this, but the real test of it will come when the paint hits the road. I’m hoping for the best and expecting the absolute worst.