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CHA Transportation Committee suggests community-wide strategic plan

By Thomas F. Wilds, for the Church Hill Association Transportation Committee

The Church Hill Association Transportation Committee meets regularly on the second Monday of each month at various locations throughout the Church Hill community. Over the course of the last six months, committee members have been very active advocating for improvements to all things involving the movement of people to work, recreation and other community activities. We’ve looked at roads, sidewalks, stairwells, traffic, parking, and signage.

Some of our accomplishments include recommending to the city over three dozen locations for bike racks. Many of you have witnessed how responsive the city has been by installing a great number of racks where they are now installed in concrete sidewalks. Another wave of racks are to be installed in brick sidewalk locations in the near future.

We’ve conducted a review of the historic staircases throughout Union Hill, Church Hill and Chimborazo. We submitted a list of recommendations for repairs with pictures of all locations. Trash has been removed and repair requests are now working their way through the department of Public Works and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

A major concern has been cross walks around Libby Hill Park, the Chimborazo playground and park, and around the schools. The Department of Public Works was very responsive and finished these projects before the new school year.

We’ve been concerned about speeding, parking and illegal turns. The City conducted speeding studies on Franklin and Marshall streets. We’ve also been involved with hearing about the circles and roundabouts throughout the community. We’ve asked the local police to step up enforcement of the ‘no turn’ directive in front of McDonald’s as you drive east. We’ve also asked for the enforcement of the 20-foot rule of no parking at intersection corners. For bikers and drivers alike, crossing some roads in the Bottom and on the Hill is dangerous because of blocked vision.

With a vision to improve all aspects of transportation in our community and the surrounding area, we decided to work towards a strategic plan that would involve all aspects of our community. As such we’ve met with Dr. Megan Gough, Assistant Professor from the Virginia Commonwealth University Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs to discuss her assistance.  She discussed three possible options.  First is a group of graduate students conducting a project under her or another professor’s supervision.  Another option is a single graduate student conducting a study and the third is paid assistance.

We thought the group study would be the best for the Church Hill Association.  The project could start as soon as next semester.  We thought that though we might want to focus on transportation, we would also need to cover a broader focus, e.g., if there were a transportation goal for streets or sidewalks, this would also need to address the CHA mission: does it include historic preservation? That would influence the strategy for improving streets & sidewalks.

Also we discussed involving a broad base of people.  Not just Church Hill Association membership would need to be involved in some way, but neighboring communities through their associations or leadership.  Note the CHA board approved a resolution at their last board meeting to involve a broad base of communities as well as the strategic planning itself.  The minutes should be posted soon on the CHA website. We’ll keep you posted regarding our future progress.

Anyone wanting to volunteer for this Transportation Committee is welcomed to join. And if you have recommendations for the committee we are waiting to hear from you. Please contact the committee at VP@Churchhill.org.

14 comments

Kevin 09/15/2014 at 6:48 AM

This is so exciting! Wonderful work!!

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Next Friend 09/15/2014 at 9:30 AM

This is the right direction for the CHA. Nice work.

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Alex 09/15/2014 at 9:47 AM

I second what #2 said. These are real steps that will make our community better. This is how CHA should run, not strictly getting their nose in hot button topics and acting as a divisive force.

I especially want to see some traction on the McDonald’s left turners. It seems like every time I pass through that area there is at least one person doing an illegal turn and holding up traffic.

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crd 09/15/2014 at 10:15 AM

The left turners at McDonald’s are not all going to the McD’s, some are going into the parking lot for the apartment building that wraps around it. Seems to me that if you’re going to restrict McDonald’s traffic, you also have to do it for those apartments. Might or might not be a problem, and I don’t know if the apt. dwellers have another way to enter and exit.

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Alexander Hooker 09/15/2014 at 2:10 PM

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that we differentiate based on where folks are going. The issue is that there are clear no left turn signs entering and exiting that lot on Broad but yet it seems like there’s a steady flow of folks who can’t seem to follow that advice and it really gums up Broad.

The tenants can enter the same way that you’re supposed to for McDonald’s – turn left at the light beforehand (where there is a left turn signal). The lot is accessible that way.

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Left Turn 09/15/2014 at 5:13 PM

You will never change the move to make left turns off of Broad into McDs. In fact, they encourage it by having a sigh with an arrow posted there for entrance, eventhough the city sign post is no left turn. So when you need a fry fix, you make the turn and never seen that problem addressed by city traffic or police. It a turn that is too tough to turn down …..

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KatManDo 09/15/2014 at 5:21 PM

Should we consider rationalizing stop light and stop signs. As far as I can see, it probably was done a long time ago.

One, for example: East Franklin goes from N 29th to N 25th with no stops. This makes it a speeding pass through the neighborhood during rush hours. Stop signs would make that problematic especially if the new stops were enforced for a time so that speeders get the message.

I won’t even bring up the issue or the inconsistency between E Franklin and E Broad in this regard.

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Jon Ondrak 09/15/2014 at 5:44 PM

I seem to recall at a CHA meeting earlier in the year Tom Wilds brought up an idea of permitted parking, or a residential restricted parking district in Church Hill and the St. John’s OHD. Did anything ever come of that?

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Katherine J 09/15/2014 at 7:48 PM

That part of Broad is so congested and bumpy, nobody’s going anywhere, anyway. It doesn’t bother me to wave somebody out of McD’s, and I am able to read the road well enough to get around them.

I don’t patronize that restaurant but once in a while, when westbound, I do decide to pull into the Exxon station across the double line. Usually I approach from the south on 18th, and that’s always the way I go out- through the intersection and not west across 4 lanes of traffic. So aren’t we all just as guilty…??

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crd 09/15/2014 at 8:53 PM

@8, I’m not surprised. I served on the board of CHA back in the 1980s and someone on the board suggested that we start thinking about it back then (he was from Northern Virginia originally many years ago, and saw parking might become an issue). That was way before the parking problems with MCV students started encroaching on at least the western areas of the historic district.

@5, thanks for the explanation. Now, if all the tenants and burger/fries seekers would just obey the law, things might be a little better. I approach and leave the Exxon station from 18th on the rare times I go there.

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Geoffrey Cooper 09/15/2014 at 9:58 PM

# 8 and 10. Stephen Bergin from City of Richmond, Dept of Public Works, Parking Division will be giving a presentation on Permit Parking at the October CHA General Membership Meeting (not tomorrow). Tuesday’s agenda is already rather full, so we scheduled this informational session for October. The purpose is informational so that we may be familiar with options and processes. Hope to see you there.

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Lee 09/15/2014 at 10:54 PM

Uhhmm…. I know I’m dreaming, but: Heritage Trolley/Street Car? Use it as transit, but keep it historic (curb and tourism appeal?)

I already hear the groans and can feel the eye rolls, but, had to suggest it. (I mean, it would be awesome, right? The old photos from when we still had trolleys are awesome. And it would help revitalize the area…)

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Kathleen Onufer 09/16/2014 at 8:43 AM

I’m not a CHA member, but I’d be interested in serving on the committee. I’m a regular bus rider, and it’s important that Church Hill and the greater East End make sure the BRT and subsequent route re-designs make bus transportation better.

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Thomas 09/16/2014 at 9:03 AM

All I want for Christmas is a roundabout in front of Alamo…

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