Jump to content

Richmond Region Transportation


wrldcoupe4

Recommended Posts

12 hours ago, RiverYuppy said:

I wonder what they consider "Richmond area."  I would like to see Richmond move to over 350k people by 2030.

Factoring current and past growth rates, I have the City of Richmond hitting the peak 1970's population of 250k by 2022 and the metro hitting 1.5 million by 2021.  By 2030 it would be 287k and 1.7 million respectively (assuming no changes in trends which of course is not likely)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


4 hours ago, Icetera said:

Factoring current and past growth rates, I have the City of Richmond hitting the peak 1970's population of 250k by 2022 and the metro hitting 1.5 million by 2021.  By 2030 it would be 287k and 1.7 million respectively (assuming no changes in trends which of course is not likely)

Not to invalidate your calculation, but didn't the 2014 Census put us at 217K? That gives us only 6 years to add 33,000 people, and assuming I round the growth rate at, say, 4,500/year, that would make 4,500 x 6 = 27,000. So 244K at 2022, not bad I suppose, but that is assuming we add 4500 people each year, which is extremely optimistic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be perfectly honest, I think Richmond will end up adding more people than that. These population projections don't take anything other than current data into account, and there are a huge variety of different variables that contribute to increases in population growth. I think that as the mess up in Northern "faux" Virginia continues to build up, you'll start seeing a lot more "refugees" (as I like half-heartedly like to call them) move down here for cheaper housing and an overall better quality of life. Richmond's been the city with so much potential for years; I think it's only a matter of time before it becomes what Charlotte, Atlanta, and Raleigh are undergoing now- minus a lot of the unnecessary and unchecked sprawl.

In regards to space for construction, Richmond has a much larger historic street grid than all of those cities. A big reason why these other cities are building all of these gargantuan projects in comparison to Central Virginia has to do with the fact that their historic city centres were demolished for them or they never were incredibly large in the first place. There are so many historic structures in Downtown Richmond that are just beginning to undergo extensive restoration attempts; once these are all finished, then I think you will see an incredible boom in new construction ie. Raleigh or Charlotte.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, OBXastronaut said:

In regards to space for construction, Richmond has a much larger historic street grid than all of those cities. A big reason why these other cities are building all of these gargantuan projects in comparison to Central Virginia has to do with the fact that their historic city centres were demolished for them or they never were incredibly large in the first place. There are so many historic structures in Downtown Richmond that are just beginning to undergo extensive restoration attempts; once these are all finished, then I think you will see an incredible boom in new construction ie. Raleigh or Charlotte.

On that note, I compiled a list of the top 100 cities in the U.S. and their number of high-rises based on Emporis (114' + or 12 stories+).  While Richmond City is only 98th in population we end up as the 23rd most densely developed in relation to high-rises per person (0.37 / 1000 pop.).  Charlotte is 38th at 0.21 and Raleigh 48th at 0.15.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Came across this decent article and thought I'd share it here. I got to say when I moved to Richmond from NYC one of the things that shocked me here was the amount of space dedicated to black asphalt parking lots. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/02/29/the-car-century-was-a-mistake-its-time-to-move-on/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, hikendesign said:

When the UCI bike race was here this past September the streets were shut down for days - truly thought it the most enjoyable time I've had in our city just walking everywhere without fear of cars, it was quiet, everyone walking, really   wish it was like that always.  We'd be a healthier, happier place.

I completely agree.  I'm always pushing for less surface level parking.

The city isn't going to become less car-centric until we become less dependent on the counties.  

I think the biggest issue Richmond has is that it's population is barely pushing 200k. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some towns in VA have walking only streets, like Winchester VA has what they call the walking mall. It's really nice, took a street in part of their old town and made it car free. Maybe Richmond could do something like that in the future. Better PT will definitely help promote this idea. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

A little update on the Rapid Bus Line, looks like everything is on schedule

Status Update (May 11, 2016): VDOT has completed its procurement process for a Design-Build Team. Lane Construction Corporation / STV was awarded the contract with a bid of $47, 295, 500 to complete Final Design and administer construction.  A Notice to Proceed was sent to The Lane Construction Corporation / STV on April 29, 2016. 

Final design is expected to occur May 2016 - August 2016. Construction activies are projected to start in September 2016, but specific construction details will be available Summer 2016. Frequent updates will be posted HERE. Construction is expected to conclude in August 2017 with Testing and Accepting to occur August 2017 - September 2017.  Pulse operations will begin October 2017.

Quarterly Public Informational Meetings continue to occur. The most recent meetings were April 26 & 27, 2016. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Blackbird Fly said:

Here is my Op/Ed recently published by RTD:

http://www.richmond.com/opinion/your-opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article_1dc9e1b3-a70a-5808-b5ad-8c00f3bee83c.html

I'd love to hear what you guys think of this idea. 

I have to agree, when we had the Citi-Bikes put in up in NYC it was and still is very segregated based on income, neighborhood, race, etc...,  I did not live in an affluent neighborhood, not a bad neighborhood, but clearly blue collar; we had no access to Citi-Bikes, they were installed in the touristy areas and the "hipster" neighborhoods (for lack of a better term I use hipster lol). The closest Citi-Bikes to me were in downtown Brooklyn, 3.5 miles aways... I have never seen them in the Bronx or Queens, both working class neighborhoods for the most part. Transit is vital to lower income/working class people in urban areas, with transit they don't have to pour money into cars, which are costly compared to bus fare. So, the people who would best benefit from a bike share program rarely see or get to access it. 

I like your idea of building the bike-share program around the Pulse, it's brilliant. Imagine trying to get to work from the North Church Hill; just grab a bike from the bike-share, ride on down to main street and then hop on the Pulse.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Found an article about the plans for an Ashland high speed rail station. In the description, it says that there will be a commuter parking lot..... Would that be commuter rail or just a high speed train that stopped their on its way from DC to RVA?

http://m.richmond.com/news/local/ashland/article_de7c8a10-2618-5bfd-a079-edfe48783dce.html?mode=jqm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I understand it, I do believe there is supposed to be stop of some sort in Ashland if the community allows it. 

I'm not exactly sure why, kind of defeats the purpose of high speed rail to have stops every 40 miles. But perhaps it's a multi use plan to have direct route trains that would bypass and some commuter based trains with more stops. 

We're seeing a lot of resistance from the folks up in Ashland against the high speed rail plan. I can understand how they don't want their community to change a lot or add rail lines that some people find ugly and what not. But, there comes a point where we simply need to expand and create a better transportation network. I wonder if the interstate system had to go through the same thing. 

 

On another transportation note though, they've started doing the soil testing for the rapid bus line on broad street, progress!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I keep checking up on the pulse because I think it's going to be awesome; but anyway, looks like everything is still on schedule and construction is set to begin August 16th.

Construction activities for the GRTC Pulse (Bus Rapid Transit) Project are scheduled to begin Tuesday, August 16, weather permitting. All activities in preparation for construction are now complete, and the Pulse Design-Build (DB) Contractor, Lane Construction, is ready to proceed with its construction plan.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
54 minutes ago, drayrichmond said:

Hopped on a train out of main street station, snapped a couple shots while being herded out to the train:

 

unnamed.jpg

unnamed-2.jpg

Whoa!  Great shots!  Way to think to take photos!  Looks like there might have been a good following of people hopping on the train with you...was it a good turnout?  Also, can't wait to see what they actually put in that shed. Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't flop (I have my fears).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Whoa!  Great shots!  Way to think to take photos!  Looks like there might have been a good following of people hopping on the train with you...was it a good turnout?  Also, can't wait to see what they actually put in that shed. Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't flop (I have my fears).

Decent amount of people getting on at the station, maybe 1/3 of the train, by the time we got to DC it was full (stopped in Fredericksburg and somewhere in NOVA); it seems the demand's there, just need more trains, only 4 run out of main street right now, hopefully when the reno is done we'll see more service and more lines come to the station. I think 1/3 is pretty good for main street, to give you an idea most of the time when I'd hop on an amtrak up in NY Penn Station it would be maybe 1/2 to 2/3 full (very rare in my experience to see a full train right out to the gate). 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/14/2016 at 11:13 AM, drayrichmond said:

Hopped on a train out of main street station, snapped a couple shots while being herded out to the train:

I am glad you grabbed some pictures!  I was unprepared to go through the train shed last Monday for a trip to NPN.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
2 hours ago, hikendesign said:

Did anyone read this - Dr. Trani makes a great case to have the Diamond become a central hub for a proposed passenger train station that would be a part of the development for this area, any thoughts on this idea?  The other item is that buildings along the development area are being demolished making way for new development. There's an RFP currently out for perspective developers to submit their plans for the best use of the overall site, should see something from this in the next month or so.

http://www.richmond.com/opinion/their-opinion/guest-columnists/article_bf4d23b5-d9ca-5578-a590-1657f3f2869f.html

http://wtvr.com/2016/09/23/boulevard-redevelopment/

I saw this article and I couldn't disagree more with dr Trani and the writer. a boulevard train station would greatly hurt downtown by taking away prospective businesses. He mentions multiple times that it will be "RVAs new downtown" which pisses me off big time. I mean I'm all for the boulevard being developed but not at the expense of downtown. He also mentions that the rail improvements that would have to be made for Main Street station would cost to much money but then talks about building a massive gateway train station that would also need rail improvements. I think it's a stupid idea that makes no sense for the city, especially with all the money they just invested in Main Street station.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.