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Richmond Region Transportation


wrldcoupe4

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I am surprised Peter Bacque didn't follow up yesterday's brief RTD story about more funds for high speed rail.

I make a point of not bringing attention to public comments following RTD stories, but one contributor points out that the old main line RF&P track "dogleg" between Fredericksburg and Doswel adds 13 miles to the rail distance between Richmond and Washington. The track generally parallels I-95 from Fredericksburg south except for the dogleg which veers southeast from the Spottsylvania/Caroline county border to a point about two miles west of Bowling Green then swings west again toward the I-95 corridor near Carmel Church. His suggestion is to build elevated tracks on the I-95 median between the northern and southern ends of the dogleg for passenger rail, thus providing quicker service between the Capital Cities.

If such a project would be practical, then I suggest the elevated rail extension continue along I-95's median to a convenient linkage along CSX trackage south of Ashland.

If and when passenger service improves, more and more trains under present plans will rumble up and down Railroad Avenue in Ashland.

The RTD contributor to Bacque's story is Ralph Dombrower and he also champions commuter rail on existing trackage connecting suburbia to downtown Richmond. A commendable idea but, IMO, not practical at this stage of the area's growth.

Edited by burt
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  • 1 month later...

The Virginia bid for high speed rail shovel-ready work has come up with only $75 million if I read this PDF file correctly:

http://www.whitehous...20Revisions.pdf

$75 million for a third rail north of Fredericksburg.

Nothing mentioned for improvements from north of Fredericksburg to Richmond's Acca Yard and Main Street Station, nor the Richmond/Hampton Roads corridor.

Here's a story by Peter Bacque confirming the short-changing of Virginia's hopes. This was just released by the RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...t_funds/320723/

Edited by burt
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  • 3 weeks later...

Virginia needs to get a grip. There doesn't need to be a high speed line to Newport News. The train is already very fast between Richmond and NN (nearly the same travel time as driving and faster than driving with traffic). Why stretch the resources thin by building two lines? The demand for travel between Richmond and Tidewater can't be that great (I understand that people will continue on to further destinations but there are still only 1.8 million people down there and only a fraction of them do that much traveling). It just seems really typical of the region to try to build two things half-assed instead of one thing correctly. It seems nearly impossible to find the funds to build one line, now they want to build two. Seems like an “out” to me. Now they can say that it is just too darn costly to bring high speed rail to the area.

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Here's the story from the viewpoint of the Newport News Daily Press. It stresses that pressure will be put on the Feds to fund the new service south of the James and improvements on the Peninsula line. Oddly, Peter Bacque does not mention that in his RTD story.

Currently, the four Amtrak trains that run on CSX trackage between MSS and Newport News are scheduled to cover the route in one hour and 38 minutes. Improved service would reduce travel time to one hour and eleven minutes. If I'm not mistaken the present trains already reach speeds of 79 mph in rural areas. Improvements to increase speeds doubtless would be at the urban ends of the route by extending the line to downtown Newport News and renovating trackage between the CSX yards near Rocketts Landing and Main Street Station.

I suspect most of the $475.4 million cost would go toward the route from MSS to Petersburg, thence via the US460 corridor to Norfolk.

http://www.dailypres...-rail_0218feb18,0,2511214.story

Edited by burt
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Virginia needs to get a grip. There doesn't need to be a high speed line to Newport News. The train is already very fast between Richmond and NN (nearly the same travel time as driving and faster than driving with traffic). Why stretch the resources thin by building two lines? The demand for travel between Richmond and Tidewater can't be that great (I understand that people will continue on to further destinations but there are still only 1.8 million people down there and only a fraction of them do that much traveling). It just seems really typical of the region to try to build two things half-assed instead of one thing correctly. It seems nearly impossible to find the funds to build one line, now they want to build two. Seems like an “out” to me. Now they can say that it is just too darn costly to bring high speed rail to the area.

Hampton Roads has a lot of ties to DC and NOVA with all of our government contractors and military. My company has people from DC in town weekly. The track goes both ways!

I'd vote to leave the Peninsula line alone and use the 460 cooridore to connect downtown Norfolk to downtown Richmond. The Norfolk station should be in the Harbor Park area and have a connection to the new light rail system.

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Hampton Roads has a lot of ties to DC and NOVA with all of our government contractors and military. My company has people from DC in town weekly. The track goes both ways!

I'd vote to leave the Peninsula line alone and use the 460 cooridore to connect downtown Norfolk to downtown Richmond. The Norfolk station should be in the Harbor Park area and have a connection to the new light rail system.

Transportation board endorses high-speed rail

The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted unanimously Wednesday to endorse a high-speed rail route between Richmond and South Hampton Roads while enhancing conventional rail on the Peninsula.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/transportation-board-endorses-highspeed-rail

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The plan for trains on both routes north and south of the James is great for all of Hampton Roads and Richmond, IMO. While it would probably end point-of-origin-and-destination service for Richmond, pass-through service such as Amtrak thru trains in Baltimore would still benefit Metro Richmond. Norfolk and Newport News would have to provide rail yards for over-nighting and storage of rail equipment.

One thing that has not been discussed in these postings about Hampton Roads service is CSX tracks north of Richmond to DC and renovation to high speed of an old line south of Petersburg to Raleigh. One may be able to travel at 90 mph from Harbor Park and 79 mph from Newport News to MSS, but until a third track is built travelers to the Northeast still would be subject to the slow-order whims of CSX between the Virginia and National capital cities.

Edited by burt
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Isn't two high-speed rail lines to one metro area of only 1.7 million a bit excessive, especially considering the fact that both will be termination points? I'm all for the high speed line to Tidewater. The south of the James route doesn't seem like it will save much time for those in Tidewater going to DC and points north (will for southbound trains). The train will run to Petersburg where you will have to wait for boarding then on to Richmond (probably going slowly on that 20 mile stretch) then you get to sit in Richmond. If a downtown station is planned for Newport News, it would be much faster (though not nearly as cool) to cross the James at downtown, park your car and take the train from there.

Will the train actually go to downtown Norfolk? How does it cross the Elizabeth river? What billion dollar solution is there for that river crossing? I wish that rail went everywhere. I’d much rather take the train but my fear is that some completely unobtainable goal will be set and 10 years from now nothing will have happened. Two routes seems like a funding nightmare. How many passenger trips will be necessary for the routes to be profitable or to at least brake even? I’m sorry that you guys down in Tidewater live at the end of the line but for rail to be successful will depend solely on local traffic. That’s a big deal considering the size of the population (Richmond for example will benefit from through traffic).

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Isn't two high-speed rail lines to one metro area of only 1.7 million a bit excessive, especially considering the fact that both will be termination points? I'm all for the high speed line to Tidewater. The south of the James route doesn't seem like it will save much time for those in Tidewater going to DC and points north (will for southbound trains). The train will run to Petersburg where you will have to wait for boarding then on to Richmond (probably going slowly on that 20 mile stretch) then you get to sit in Richmond. If a downtown station is planned for Newport News, it would be much faster (though not nearly as cool) to cross the James at downtown, park your car and take the train from there.

Will the train actually go to downtown Norfolk? How does it cross the Elizabeth river? What billion dollar solution is there for that river crossing? I wish that rail went everywhere. I’d much rather take the train but my fear is that some completely unobtainable goal will be set and 10 years from now nothing will have happened. Two routes seems like a funding nightmare. How many passenger trips will be necessary for the routes to be profitable or to at least brake even? I’m sorry that you guys down in Tidewater live at the end of the line but for rail to be successful will depend solely on local traffic. That’s a big deal considering the size of the population (Richmond for example will benefit from through traffic).

All thru my youth (eons ago rolleyes.gif ) there were trains from Richmond to N/N via the present Peninsula route and to Norfolk via Petersburg and the existing Norfolk Southern rail line. I suspect the bridge across the Elizabeth River is still there and used today by freight trains. I think the Norfolk side of that bridge is near Harbor Park. Anticipated travel time on the US460 corridor from Harbor Park to MSS is one-hour-thirty-minutes. Stops in P'burg and MSS in Richmond would be very brief.

If the Peninsula route remains the sole choice it would not serve Southern Hampton Roads very well. Norfolk/VB passengers would still have to fight the inconvience of bridge/tunnel traffic before beginning the one-hour-eleven-minute train trip to Richmond. From my experience of boarding northbound trains in Richmond ridership on the N/N and Williamsburg line appears to be significant, but I doubt Hampton Roaders south of the James account for much of that volume.

Now, there is a possibility that might favor upgrading only the Peninsula route: A boat-train system via high-speed hydrofoils carrying passengers across the waters from docks on the south shore to and from the downtown N/N station. Of course, that could also work in reverse if the 460 corridor is selected. smile.gif

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Bus Rapid Transit in Richmond? Public discussions to begin.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...-222807/325977/

The general idea is run express over-sized buses between Willow Lawn Mall and Rocketts Landing in dedicated travel lanes along the Broad/Main Street corridors with perhaps 16 stops.

One of the graphics that has been floated around (although not with today's RTD story) shows connection along 17th Street between Broad and Main Streets. Mr. Lewis of GRTC claims that is merely hyporthetical and that an exact connection between the two principal thoroughfares is not set.

It is hinted that BRT is a stop-gap measure before serious consideration of a light rail system.

Here is the schedule of public meetings:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/GRTC22G_20100221-233202/326005/

Edited by burt
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Future rail travel options in Virginia continue to get attention.

From a story by Peter Bacque in today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...-165806/327432/

If Main Street Station is to play a major role in Southeast High Speed rail, the famous "triple crossing" will never be able to accommodate high-level (double decker) trains.

Note in the photograph below that the second level would be the line for passenger train traffic south of Richmond.

From a River District blog:

http://riverdistrict...g-this-morning/

Edited by burt
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  • 1 month later...

Maybe they can move the Greyhound Bus Station on the Boulevard to the new Bus Transit Hub when completed!whistling.gif

Greyhound has repeatedly said that they have no intention of moving from The Boulevard.

The Hub sites mentioned are the lot opposite Richmond Center Stage on Grace between 6th and 7th, and at an undisclosed site at 7th and Marshall Streets. I'm not aware of space at 7th and Marshall unless they are possibly thinking of converting Blues Armory (at 6th and Marshall) into a multimodal transpo center. Blues Armory might not be a bad idea, IMO.

Edited by burt
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I think they mean the tiny parking lot at 8th and Marshall.......

The 8th and Marshall lot is so tiny it would barely accommodate one bus, let alone a fleet of them. A transit hub would require lots more space than that corner provides.

Since it sits idle, why not transform Blues Armory and the glass structure over 6th Street into a transportation center with dozens of bus loading bays as well as ramps from 5th and 7th Streets across the Coliseum Plaza into the building?

ORshades.gif , while on the transportation subject, I can't think of a comparably sized city that has a greater potential for rapid transit success than Richmond. Broad Street is a wide, straight line (about 15 miles) from Rt. 288 in Goochland to 12th Street at VCU Medical Complex. The route would connect the shopping districts of the Short Pump Area, Innsbrook Office Park, the West Broad business corridor, Museum district, downtown entertainment venues, government offices, courts and serve the west and east campuses of VCU's 32,000 student population. The mode of transit could be via monorail, light rail or even bus rapid transit.

Possible later extensions from 12th and East Broad could split with one route via the JFK viaduct to Nine Mile Road, to Highland Springs. Another route could continue from VCU Medical via Broad to 14th, then along East Main and Rt. 5 to Pocohontas Pkwy, and the airport connector to the main RIC Terminal.smile.gif

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Sean T. Connaughton the transportation czar (for the Commonwealth of Virginia) is fighting a uphill battle. I commend him for trying to use all the resources (which are miniscual) that he has available to fix Virginia's transportation problem. From smart growth to public-priavte partnerships. The people of Virginia need to demand that the General Assembly fix the transportation problem during their next session(no excuses). Whether it be taxes, tolls, federal support, or something. Gov McDonnell continues to talk about jobs(which is always a good thing)grin.png but companies will not continue to move here if their employees and themselves are stuck in traffic half the day. Which in turn brings down productivity(disgruntled employees from being stuck in traffic, people who drive for a living can only see 2 clients instead of 6, truck drivers delivering shipments late, etc.) and companies lose money.

http://styleweekly.c...74005B178D54362

P.S. -Route 895 was built 20 years ahead of when it was needed(mainly to bring Qimonda)(went bankrupt last year). Also it was built in a region that does not have a traffic problem, it did not have a connector to the airport(being fixed now opens May 2011), high tolls (now close to $4), and Henrico County zoning for that area which is mainly farmland and will stay that way. Two things that will increase traffic on 895 in that area, one will be the development of White Oak Technology Park and Meadowville Technology Park to the south. My hope is one day Virginia Bio-Technology Park, White Oak and Meadowville, would form a coalition(one website) with other local universities(UR,VSU,VUU,RMC,JTCC,JRCC,ECPI,ITT) instead of just VCU to bring more technology companies to the Ricmond Region, that will rival similar parks in the country. Second will be the Port of Richmond. If taken over by the Virginia Port Authority(city of Richmond would be crazy not to take this offer) then development of the south end of 895 will bring more truck volume and the distribution warehouses(that will come) will have access to the airport, port, and rail all within a 3 mile radius. thumbsup.gif

Edited by calwinston
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I think that toll on 895 is around 2.75 (one way). I've used it two times in the last month and drive by it in the mornings (I'm currently working on a house in Chester, I'm usually never in that part of the metro). It seems to me that traffic volume is up on 895, maybe double what is was on that road just after it opened... still to call it "traffic" is a bit of a stretch. The port deal would really change that area. There is no room on the south side of the river around the port for any new warehouses.

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