Proposed Widening of Forest Hill Ave from Two to Four Lanes (47th St to Roanoke)
You may or may not have heard but ConnectRVA 2045, part of the The Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RRTPO), put out a draft list of 270 transportation projects for public comment. This regional transportation planning group drafted up their list of plan ideas for the whole region. The projects listed that will be winnowed down to a much smaller list. At this point nothing is set in stone, approved, or funded. On this draft list is a proposed plan to widen Forest Hill Avenue from two lanes to four and include bike lanes. This would be the section from 47th St to Roanoke.
The public comment period for these projects runs until next Thursday April 15. There are two ways to comment:
1) Go the the following site and leave a comment in the field at the bottom
https://www.connectrva2045.org/post/public-review-extended-connectrva-2045-universe-of-projects
2) Use the interactive project map. Zoom into the area of the map showing the project on Forest Hill Ave and click on the section colored red and leave a comment
https://wikimapping.com/ConnectRVA2045.html
*It is a little trick to get your cursor over the project in such a way it will let you click on it. While you are in the map take a look at some of the other proposed projects too.
Please comment so that way the planners know what the neighborhood wants
Want to know what this regional planning group is and how it is made up? Check out this great look into regional transportation planning in region. It is admittedly complicated but you can start to see how the localities, state, and federal agencies work together.
https://richintransit.medium.com/making-sense-of-greater-richmonds-transit-governance-d628283b4c36
From the ConnectRVA 2045 group “The Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RRTPO) has been developing a master list of potential regional projects, a “Universe of Projects” for the Richmond region based on regional and local transportation studies, additional recommendations provided by AC members, future transportation issues identified by the Richmond/Tri-Cities Travel Demand Model and public input received through the ConnectRVA 2045 website, community engagement, and advisory committees. The purpose of this stage of the planning process is to set the foundation for all the projects that we will test and rank for possible inclusion in the draft plan (this is what we are referring to as the Universe of Projects). By being on this list it doesn’t mean anything is approved or that it is included in the plan – we still need to go through data-driven travel demand model testing, benefit/cost analysis, and equity/social impact testing on each potential project. After that, the ranking of priority projects can be performed and compared with expected funding allocations to set the draft constrained plan. These steps will happen between now and early fall, with plenty more opportunity for public feedback and engagement”