Richmond Region Transportation

[drayrichmond]

20 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Does anyone on this board keep up with, or have a heavy interest in, The Pulse BRT system?  I'm excited for this system to come online (the sooner the better), but I just read somewhere that instead of opening in October this year, it will probably be sometime next year before it is operational and fully running.  Is someone keeping up with, or know the reason for the delay?  Also, there appears to be very little in the way of photographic progress - does anyone have any recent photos?  I know there is a webcam, but it only shows one station and the picture is grainy.  Does anyone know if the dedicated lanes will be painted or be a different color than the regular pavement (like concrete)?  I know that up here in Alexandria, the dedicated BRT lanes are concrete and colored concrete - looks very nice (is black asphalt in as it gets into Crystal City).  Was just wondering.

I've been following the BRT pretty closely, coming from NYC, I've been waiting and hoping for better PT in RVA.

As for the first question/point, the opening date. While they haven't come out and stated that opening has been pushed back to 2018, they have changed the wording on their press releases and website. Essentially stating that they are pushing as much as they can to have it completed by Oct. 2017 but it's difficult. Following that up with a statement that the construction contract has a must finish date of June 2018. So, the answer to that is yes and no; essentially they're doing the best they can; the best case being Oct. 2017, worst case being June 2018 (I doubt it will be that late, but I bet it won't be October, I'd put money on Nov/Dec).

As for progress, I drove the Richmond stretch of Broad last week. The median for the dedicated lane has been ripped out for the entire length and work is progressing, hard to say how well as I'm no expert on building a road. For station construction and pictures, I am planning on uploading picture updates of the station behind my apartment (Shockoe Station). They're working on it now, though it's just the prep work, digging, utilities, etc. so not much to take a picture of right now, but stay tuned, I'll post pictures as soon as they get something up worth taking pictures of.

As for the dedicated lanes and how they'll be differentiated. I have no clue, haven't been able to find anything on that on the website. I've emailed them asking, it's a good question, worth answering.

I will say that I've seen the buses they purchased for the BRT and I am impressed, really looking forward to taking a ride, this is something I plan on using a lot to get up to Broad street from my place, but then I am very used to taking PT, I hope more people give it a try.

[Icetera]

There is foundation work on at least one of the stations near Boulevard but it is certainly progressing slower than I had hoped given how long it has been since they dug up the median.  All the work so far on the Shockoe stations has been in the roadway (utilities), so given that the stations will be on the sides it looks like there is still a while until those begin work.

[eandslee]

Thanks for the updates guys!  When you get the chance to snap some photos and post them here, that would be great.  As far as the progress, it certainly seems like they are going slow, but I'm not totally sure about everything that is involved in the process.  The stations seem very basic to build, so I can't imagine them taking as long as they are unless they're more complicated than I thought or a myriad of other issues.

I'm equally excited about this project and hope that Richmond embraces it.  Up here in NOVA, PT is a fact of life and it's actually a very good thing to have in order to get around effectively.

[wrldcoupe4]

they have a weekly email newsletter as well that provides updates.

[drayrichmond]

so, the answer I got on the pavement is that they will have colored pavement just around the stations, 100 feet in either direction and that it's going to be red. They sent me a rendering as well of the arts district westward station:

 

[eandslee]

3 hours ago, drayrichmond said:

so, the answer I got on the pavement is that they will have colored pavement just around the stations, 100 feet in either direction and that it's going to be red. They sent me a rendering as well of the arts district westward station:

 

Awesome investigative work!  I like the red...it makes a very bold statement!  Thanks for clarifying this!

[changingskyline]

Will this ever lead to light rail lines or do you think it will remain buses? Houston has a light rail line that is being expanded throughout the city. The downtown area there, which has traditionally been limited to office buildings and dead after hours, is really coming alive with condos and apartments.

[drayrichmond]

On 6/24/2017 at 9:19 PM, changingskyline said:

Will this ever lead to light rail lines or do you think it will remain buses? Houston has a light rail line that is being expanded throughout the city. The downtown area there, which has traditionally been limited to office buildings and dead after hours, is really coming alive with condos and apartments.

In all reality it's not likely at least in the short-term/near future. The city just doesn't have the funds or ridership to support something like that yet. That being said, the dedicated lanes are supposed to be easily up-gradable to light rail. Best we can hope for right now is that this line is successful enough to lend support to expanding the line and adding the other lines as planned. Then and only then can we start to think about upgrading to light rail.

[Icetera]

BRT station foundation work on 25th St and Rocketts Landing stations.

[eandslee]

Great stuff!  Thanks so much for posting the pics!  Looks like they have quite a ways to go!

[Wahoo 07]

http://www.richmond.com/news/newest-jeff-davis-corridor-plan-suggests-trolley-system/article_713a7833-deff-5aad-8bf9-6bafb203b458.html

Article on potential transportation options for Chesterfield's Jeff Davis corridor

[eandslee]

If you visit the GRTC Pulse Facebook page, you will see photos that were taken last night of steel being erected for the Allison St. east bound BRT station.  Looks bigger than I had imagined, but looks good!  I'd post the photos, but can't do it from where I am.

[eandslee]

Heads up:  There are photos of BRT construction during the month of July on the GRTC Pulse Facebook page. 

[blopp1234]

It appears that Dr Trani is still making his case for a boulevard high speed rail station and thinking about it, he does have a point. While the boulevard is multiple miles outside of downtown, the sheer amount of land available for development is huge. While it wouldn't have the same feel as downtown, a striking huge new high speed rail terminal surrounded by high density mixed use could greatly help the city and give developers a blank slate via acres of land that they could freely develop into large mixed use complexs such as those around European train stations. A boulevard station could serve in cohesion with MSS where the boulevard station could become a intercity hsr hub while mss could become a commuter rail/brt hub as well as possibly an entertainment venue similar to union marketplace in philly. They could have a metro style commuter train connect the two then run to the airport at high speeds. As Trani proposed, mss could house the slavery museum and could help incorporate the surrounding parking lots to become parks and gardens incorporated into the museum. this could help both areas thrive and could abolish the ugly staples mill shack that greats rail travelers today and could increase richmonds chances of getting high speed rail. As much as I love Main Street station, I think it could have a more beneficial effect on the boulevard and a region as a whole if mss was turned into a commuter rail hub and a intercity station was built on the boulevard. I'm ready for the flack that is about to come my way ;D.

link to the article:

http://wtvr.com/2017/07/22/dr-trani-on-high-speed-rail-in-richmond/

[Wahoo 07]

7 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

It appears that Dr Trani is still making his case for a boulevard high speed rail station and thinking about it, he does have a point. While the boulevard is multiple miles outside of downtown, the sheer amount of land available for development is huge. While it wouldn't have the same feel as downtown, a striking huge new high speed rail terminal surrounded by high density mixed use could greatly help the city and give developers a blank slate via acres of land that they could freely develop into large mixed use complexs such as those around European train stations. A boulevard station could serve in cohesion with MSS where the boulevard station could become a intercity hsr hub while mss could become a commuter rail/brt hub as well as possibly an entertainment venue similar to union marketplace in philly. They could have a metro style commuter train connect the two then run to the airport at high speeds. As Trani proposed, mss could house the slavery museum and could help incorporate the surrounding parking lots to become parks and gardens incorporated into the museum. this could help both areas thrive and could abolish the ugly staples mill shack that greats rail travelers today and could increase richmonds chances of getting high speed rail. As much as I love Main Street station, I think it could have a more beneficial effect on the boulevard and a region as a whole if mss was turned into a commuter rail hub and a intercity station was built on the boulevard. I'm ready for the flack that is about to come my way ;D.

link to the article:

http://wtvr.com/2017/07/22/dr-trani-on-high-speed-rail-in-richmond/

I agree.  As iconic as MSS is, it really isn't suited for HSR.  It would be a great location for multi-modal regional transportation though.  The boulevard location might entice more of western Henrico to consider the train versus driving to points north than MSS, as well as solidify that part of the city's resurgence.  On a personal note, the first time my girlfriend alighted at Staples Mill, she could not believe that that dismal facility was the South's busiest rail station.  An ultra modern boulevard station would certainly improve the optics for Richmond.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Whatever ends up happening they oughta fix Acca Yard first.

[Icetera]

1 hour ago, hikendesign said:

"Main Street doesn't have the capacity to handle the trains, it can't expand the tracks there and they've got all kind of barriers

There's no question Main Street's rail lines - shared with freight traffic - aren't ideally situated for a brisk stop downtown in a north-south race from D.C. to Raleigh."

The viaducts running through MSS were originally built with two tracks each (plus another 4 ending in the shed) and currently only have one each.  Restoring those additional tracks would allow for freight to bypass.  While the deck would have to be rebuilt, the pylons for the trestle running South across the James were built to accommodate an additional track as opposed to the two-track shared-freight line running down I-195 which has no possibility of expansion.

[blopp1234]

35 minutes ago, Icetera said:

The viaducts running through MSS were originally built with two tracks each (plus another 4 ending in the shed) and currently only have one each.  Restoring those additional tracks would allow for freight to bypass.  While the deck would have to be rebuilt, the pylons for the trestle running South across the James were built to accommodate an additional track as opposed to the two-track shared-freight line running down I-195 which has no possibility of expansion.

However, this would barely be able to handle minimum passenger capacity without possible commuter rail and expanded service which would have to be centered there anyways. A mss with double tracks on both sides could warrant commuter rail and could handle extra freight capacity, freeing up the A-line for higher speeds and less congestion. Also a boulevard station could accommodate future growth as mss will forever be limited to 4 platforms where as a boulevard station could build far more in anticipation of growth. What I'm saying is that mss could work fine for now and maybe for the next 5-10 years, but if and when commuter rails gets running in rva, it will get to congested with passenger trains, freight trains, and commuter trains trying to stop and pass on only 4 tracks.

[Wahoo 07]

https://ggwash.org/view/63341/richmond-wants-an-80-mile-brt-network.-heres-where-it-would-go

Article on Richmond's BRT long term plan.  It's pretty ambitious but would really improve the metro area.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzGlMTDvZXv-YnFLY2Z1WVROVE0/view

This is the summary report.

[Wahoo 07]

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/scott-s-addition-boulevard-association-endorses-idea-of-a-commuter/article_180d6718-dcf0-5883-baa6-28bfc082ffe1.html

Scott's Addition Assc endorses boulevard rail station. 

[eandslee]

8 minutes ago, Wahoo 07 said:

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/scott-s-addition-boulevard-association-endorses-idea-of-a-commuter/article_180d6718-dcf0-5883-baa6-28bfc082ffe1.html

Scott's Addition Assc endorses boulevard rail station. 

I don't know much about the plan, but the little I do, makes sense.  Perhaps this idea will begin to gain steam; however, I do have mixed emotions about it.  I would love MSS be the commuter rail hub, but I do understand its limitations and the virtual impossibility of overcoming those limitations.  Trani's idea just might be the perfect solution!

[drayrichmond]

I still have problems with this plan.

While I agree that we should try and consolidate to a single station I do not think we should waste all that potential land for development on a train station. The amount of land that a train station would take up just kills it for me. Besides the station itself, we'd lose land for rail infrastructure (especially if we implement this 'loop' he talked about), we'd lose land to what I imagine would be a sea of surface lots for parking. Basically a huge chunk of the land around the Diamond would be used for rail infrastructure, parking, and a train station instead of development.

[majors2410]

First off there is no plan for commuter rail. Virginia Railway Express is commuter rail. Commuter rail would be trains from Ashland, Petersburg etc bringing passengers into the city. The only rail planned in the future is INTRAcity (amtrack. Businesses and hotels are downtown why would you drop passengers off here.  This plan was all wrong right from the statement that downtown is moving to the boulevard. This area is experiencing the development it is because of the availablility of ugly surface parking. Around 90,000 people work downtown. That's not going to change.

The plan in Richmond is for BRT to serve commuters into the city.

 

 

[tparkerzut]

10 minutes ago, majors2410 said:

First off there is no plan for commuter rail. Virginia Railway Express is commuter rail. Commuter rail would be trains from Ashland, Petersburg etc bringing passengers into the city. The only rail planned in the future is INTRAcity (amtrack. Businesses and hotels are downtown why would you drop passengers off here.  This plan was all wrong right from the statement that downtown is moving to the boulevard. This area is experiencing the development it is because of the availablility of ugly surface parking. Around 90,000 people work downtown. That's not going to change.

The plan in Richmond is for BRT to serve commuters into the city.

 

 

Agreed.

[Brent114]

I saw another bike share station installed!  This one is in front of the Pleasant's building on Broad (across the street from the new buss station).