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Traffic circles coming to Jefferson Avenue

According to a letter mailed to residents in the neighborhood near Jefferson Avenue, the city will begin construction on traffic circles on Jefferson Avenue at Clay Street, 23rd Street, and 24th Streets “within the next couple of weeks.”

The letter goes on to state that the “final plans may be viewed at the Department of Public Work’s office located in Room 707 of City Hall.” Contact Zachary Snyder at (804)895-3620 or Maritza Feliz-Reyes at (804)646-646-6334.

If anyone gets by City Hall and can get images of the plans, I’d love to be able to share them out.

PREVIOUSLY: Proposal to transform Jefferson Avenue into a more pedestrian and bike friendly corridor (MAY 22, 2014)

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2015-04-30 19-40

79 comments

UnionHillian 04/30/2015 at 11:12 PM

Sorry folks, but if you’d seen the kinds of confusion & “Hail Mary” driving on Jefferson Ave. that I (we) have for the past 9+yrs, you’d realize serious changes are necessary. At a minimum, it will remove the “let’s see how fast I can go” option from the long, wide open run from 21st>25th St. The plans are really quite well thought out, and the circles will be well landscaped. Jeff. Ave. can def use some beautification…

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Lee 04/30/2015 at 11:22 PM

I like traffic circles, and I’m all for beautification, but couldn’t they just make sections of the street(s) one-way so that you have to travel around some of the triangles formed by the intersection of Jefferson and the normal street grid to continue in the same direction? I think they would technically refer to this as a shuffle….? Not a traffic engineer and it’s not a common concept. It would theoretically slow traffic down due to the turns, no?

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Lee 04/30/2015 at 11:30 PM

May need to disregard previous comment: I have seen this idea at work in bigger cities but can find NO clear explanation for how it works or what it’s called. Whatsoever.

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24th 04/30/2015 at 11:44 PM

I live right by Jefferson Avenue and I’m excited to see these coming in. Trying to cross Jefferson in the car or on foot now it’s taking your life in your hands.

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Brittany 05/01/2015 at 12:11 AM

My letter only mentioned traffic circles at 23rd and 24th. To clarify what this graphic shows, there will also be one at 22nd??

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UnionMeetsChurch 05/01/2015 at 12:32 AM

I see way more positives than negatives here folks. This will improve the main drag of Church Hill and then, when the new pocket park goes in on the triangle at 23rd and Clay, things will really be looking nice. Property values are looking better and better for homeowners.

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John M 05/01/2015 at 4:19 AM

Brittany – not at 22nd/Jeff, but Clay&Jeff

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K 05/01/2015 at 7:46 AM

Traffic circles, not unlike speed bumps, typically produce an inintended consequence: Yeah, they slow people down briefly — but then drivers accelerate to get to the next one. Result? Saver intersections, more dangerous traffic between.

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Ian Dunwiddie 05/01/2015 at 8:35 AM

A straight road with no stops is much safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Right now Jefferson is wide open. If you’re having trouble crossing Jefferson then that’s on you and your judgment.

The only reason 22nd and Jefferson is a clusterf* is because people inevitably want to turn left and then no one can get around them due to parked cars. Also there are 7(?) traffic lights facing (seemingly random) different directions. The intersection is already confusing for drivers to navigate. I’m sure a circle, or ellipse as they are so wont to do, will not alleviate the confusion. At best this will serve as a ramp so drivers may be able to clear the fences of the neighboring houses rather than crashing through them.

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Mandy C. 05/01/2015 at 9:25 AM

I’m pretty thrilled about the circle in front of Alamo. I suppose with traffic circles we can’t have pedestrian “walk” lights, but with the way things are right now, it’s like playing Frogger to walk to Alamo from Clay.

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Brandon 05/01/2015 at 9:33 AM

Usually I am all for traffic circles but multiple in a row like this just seems very odd to me. I think the intersection at Jefferson Ave and E Clay St does need a traffic circle like M and 25th did. Adding traffic circles all the way down Jefferson Ave seems like a complete waste of money though…. I hope this turns out well because I drive this way to and from work everyday.

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UnionHillian 05/01/2015 at 9:34 AM

Wow. Lot’s of feedback (+&-), and an equal amount of confusion, knee-jerking and misinformation. Perhaps once John can post some picks of the plans, there will be clarity, calm and enthusiasm. BTW, @Lee (#8): There will in fact be some streets changed to “One Way”. 22nd St. North of the intersection (Alamo>North), and Clay>East of the intersection (>23rd). Again, the plans will make all this clear.

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Matt Hillian 05/01/2015 at 9:50 AM

Do we have any indication as to how pedestrian friendly these new traffic circles will be? Some traffic circles make street crossings even more dangerous for pedestrians – especially the ones that just get dropped down – as in the case of Chimborazo Boulevard. The 25th and M has cross walks built in which is nice.

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Guilty Mom 05/01/2015 at 10:16 AM

I’m getting dizzy just thinking about going through all of these circles. Some have been great (25th St an example), but the ones going further East on M St are not; it’s hard to see traffic around if you are coming up the side number streets to them.

Plus the fact that it will give GuiltyDad yet another excuse to say “Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament” means it will definitely add to the eye rolling I have to deal with

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SK 05/01/2015 at 11:16 AM

A common theme in these replies is that people seem to appreciate the traffic circle at 25th and M, which creates a clear and orderly progression of traffic. Alternatively, residents I’ve spoken with are frustrated with the circles on M and other East-West streets in Church Hill, as they do not fully impede the flow of traffic, allowing people to recklessly blow through them.

I tend to agree, so, if the plans call for circles as substantial and well-signed as the one at 25th and M, I’m all for it! However, if they are more similar to others we’ve seen in the neighborhood, it could create a confusing and potentially unsafe environment for drivers.

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Eric S. Huffstutler 05/01/2015 at 12:48 PM

I can say that we have seen people cheat going “around” the circle and try going the wrong way to save the extended loop trip. Problem with that is that it will cause problems and accidents if people are coming in the right direction meeting thse corner-cutters head on.

I am not sure how the one in front of Alamo will work as that is a confusing mess anyway at times.

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Church Hillian 05/01/2015 at 1:17 PM

Why do they still have the yield signs up on the traffic circles for the streets enterting the circles on chimborazo blvd? It makes it seem as though when you are driving straight on Chimbo you dont have to yield going through the circles. It would make sense if all entries had yield signs…. but yet only the ones on each side do?

I thought everyone was supposed to yield to the cars in a traffic circle? but placing these (2) yield signs goes against that….

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Lee 05/01/2015 at 1:45 PM

@ union hillian: What I am suggesting is that you should have to go around the existing triangles created by Jefferson, rather than going straight through. The place I seem to remember seeing this prominently featured was on Broadway in NYC in heavily (pedestrian) congested areas. The idea is you would have to go right at an intersection and then turn left at the next intersection and then right again – traversing two sides of a triangle. This effectively creates a series of connecting traffic circles/triangles which can wrap around a median or an entire block. Apparently, it also frees up space for wider sidewalks and more parking, though for the life of me I can’t explain how!

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Elaine Odell 05/01/2015 at 2:50 PM

Hi folks. This whole Jefferson Ave project started about 18 months ago at a Union Hill meeting at the Union Market, where we asked neighbors what they’d like to change about the cl—f–k intersection at the Alamo along with the rest of Jefferson Avenue.

Since then, we’ve had many meetings and publicized discussions with residents and business owners. A group of your neighbors have volunteered their time to keep this dream alive and tried very hard to be inclusive and open to ideas.

Fortunately, we were able to get the attention of the city traffic engineering department and 2 things have happened:

1) Federal highway administration funds designated for traffic calming have been earmarked for Jefferson Avenue.

Note, those funds can only be used for traffic calming.

Right now in the US, circles or “roundabouts” are viewed by traffic engineers (and BilkeWalk RVA agrees,) as the safest, most cost efficient way to slow vehicular speed. So, we are getting some for Jefferson Avenue in the short term.

The traffic circle plan includes painted bike sharrows on the road surface and white painted cross walks for pedestrians.

It’s not an uber-avenue yet, but if we all hang in there, and join in with the upcoming EPA charrettes this June, we might get the boulevard of our dreams. See #2 below.

2) About 4 months ago, the City of Richmond’s Pedestrian/Bike Coordinator, Jake Helmbolt, helped sure grant funding from the EPA.

This Greening America’s Capitals http://www2.epa.gov/smart-growth/greening-americas-capitals grant will fund community-based planning and design for the Jefferson Avenue of our dreams: a safer more environmentally-friendly shared avenue we can all enjoy.

So even if the 3 circles, bike sharrows and painted pedestrian cross walks aren’t doing it for you, please join us later this June for 3 days of open meetings with street planners and the EPA.

More details to come for the dates/places of those charettes.

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Elaine Odell 05/01/2015 at 3:05 PM

I have a copy of the plans (14 pages total) if anyone wants to see em let me know. They’re construction/engineering drawings (re: small type, lots of detail, 11×17 page size.) if someone has a scanner big enuf and the time to copy and prep the digital file, gimme a shout.

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ann 05/01/2015 at 3:33 PM

Thanks, Elaine…this was on the table for a loooong time.

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BAF 05/01/2015 at 4:26 PM

I would be OK with this if the City would make a serious effort to explain to drivers how rotaries work. Coming from the North, we have these in many areas, but they are relative rarities in Virginia. I see so many drivers handling the circle at 25th and Jefferson improperly that I have to believe that this is due to a lack of experience/knowledge as to how to approach them, who has the right of way, etc. Adding more of them is only going to exacerbate the problem and make things worse if the City does not invest in some sort of neighborhood education/outreach program to explain proper usage or if that is too hard simply have the police offer lessons to offenders for the low low cost of the relevant fine.

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