Category Archives: traffic

Letter of Resignation To Venture Richmond

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Jamie, Stephen,

After giving the situation some thought, I am resigning from my lead volunteer position of the Richmond Folk Festival‘s Green Team in protest of Venture Richmond’s role in pushing the 2nd Street Connector proposal, which evidently comes before City Council on Monday night.

My neighborhood association as well as the local Sierra Club have serious concerns about the 2nd Street Connector proposal, and to my knowledge, those concerns have not been addressed in a proper public manner. I am disappointed by how the 2nd Street Connector proposal is being pushed through the public process, while the rest of the Richmond Riverfront Plan has been delayed.

https://www.oregonhill.net/2012/07/13/city-council-and-2nd-street-connector/

https://www.oregonhill.net/2012/02/04/sierra-club-speaks-against-proposed-2nd-street-connector/

https://www.oregonhill.net/2011/10/08/ohna-sends-letter-in-support-of-city-to-protect-canal/

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/commentary/2012/apr/29/tdcomm03-save-richmonds-canals-again-ar-1875078/

Although I do not want you to take this resignation and protest lightly, I also want you to know that I do plan to continue to support and volunteer with the Richmond Folk Festival without holding the Green Team leadership position. I repeat, I plan to volunteer for Green Team shifts even though I am resigning my leadership position.

As someone who has always supported the Folk Festival (including when it was previously the National Folk Festival), and having won the 2010 Folk Festival Volunteer of the Year award, I believe the Folk Festival has become a vital and important part of Richmond’s cultural landscape. I also want the Richmond Folk Festival to become more ‘green’ and become an environmental role model for other festivals in the area.

I just wish Venture Richmond would take a step back and recognize it’s duty and responsibility as a neighbor and part of the community and how the 2nd Street Connector and amphitheater proposals impact those roles.

Sincerely,
Scott Burger

On May 14, 2012, at 6:05 PM, J Thomas wrote:

The Volunteer page for the Richmond Folk Festival goes live tomorrow!
In order to make sure that the links are all working, please take a moment to click on http://richmondfolkfestival.org/docs/volunteer.html

City Council and 2nd Street Connector

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Despite letters of concern from citizens, neighborhood association, and the local Sierra Club, an ordinance was introduced for the 2nd Street Connector this past Monday. C. Wayne Taylor’s questions have not been answered and there is no word on alternatives.

Ord. No. 2012-152 (Patron: Mayor Jones) – To declare a public necessity for and to authorize the acquisition of the property identified as the “Project Area” in a certain Gift and Dedication of Real Property and Development Agreement between Gamble’s Hill, LLC, Venture Richmond, Inc., the City of Richmond, Virginia, and Dominion Resources Services, Inc., currently owned by Gamble’s Hill, LLC and to be conveyed to Venture Richmond pursuant to such Agreement, for a purchase price not to exceed $916,640.00, for public right-of-way purposes. (Planning Commission, Monday, July 16, 2012, 1:30 p.m.; COMMITTEE: Land Use, Housing and Transportation, Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 3:00 p.m.)

GRTC Task Force Meets Thursday

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First, from the City’s press release:

All residents are invited and encouraged to attend

WHAT The Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force will hold a meeting. The purpose of the Task Force is to make recommendations to Richmond City Council with regard to enhancing mass transit in the Metro-Richmond area and the efficiency and effectiveness of the GRTC Transit System. The meeting is free and open to the public and all residents are invited and encouraged to attend.

WHEN Thursday, July 12, 2012
4:00-6:00 p.m.

WHERE Richmond Department of Economic Development
Richmond Main Street Station – 3rd Floor Conference Room
1500 East Main Street; Richmond, Virginia 23219
(PARKING: Free parking is available on the west side of the building by using the Franklin Street Entrance and using the lot below the Interstate. When facing the Train Station from the Franklin Street Entrance, make a right and park towards the Clock Tower end. When facing the building from the parking lot, the entrance door to the Richmond Department of Economic Development is located on the right of the building.)

WHO Members of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force

CONTACT For more information, please contact Councilman Bruce W. Tyler, Richmond City Council, West End 1st District, at 804.357.6007; or bruce.tyler@richmondgov.com.

Secondly, and with disclosure here as a GRTC Task Force member, I will mention a few of the suggestions that are starting to emerge from the Task Force meetings so far:

1. There seems to be consensus that the City Code needs reform in regard to how GRTC’s routes are determined.

2. There needs to be some sort of inner city circulator that is inexpensive or even free. It needs to be much more frequent and reliable than standard GRTC buses and it must be designed to serve citizens and not just tourists. How this is implemented, and perhaps more importantly, paid for, still needs to be determined.

3. Task force members have been asking for regular updates on new signage for GRTC bus stops.

4. The GRTC Task Force has asked for assistance from the Green City Commission on initiatives like bus stop recycling, green fleet usage, connections with other organizations and multimodal transportation.

Also, I will say that while task force members agree that there needs to be more regional transportation efforts, the surrounding counties have not been attending meetings with GRTC or the task force, so the task force has been focused on what the City can do to improve GRTC.

Neighborhood Deals With Lingering Power Issues/Braces For ‘Fireworks On The James’

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Oregon Hill, like much of the Richmond area, is still cleaning up after recent storms. The downed trees on S. Cherry Street in front of the William Byrd Community House in the picture below were removed this morning.

Thankfully, it seems like the neighborhood did not suffer as much damage as other places. Still, Pescados restaurant suffered a power outage along with some residential blocks. There are still a few houses on the 400 block of S. Laurel that do not have power.

At the same time, residents are getting ready for expected crowds for tomorrow night’s ‘Fireworks on the James’. A couple of notes on that-

Fireworks to begin at approximately 9:15 PM
Enjoy music simulcast on WRIR-FM, 97.3 during the evening.
In case of rain, the event will take place on Thursday, July 5th.

195 Traffic Alert

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From City’s Department of Public Works:

Lane Closure – I-195 at the 9th Street overpass

WHO: City of Richmond Department of Public Works

WHAT: Lane Closure

WHEN: Sunday, July 1 through Wednesday, August 8

WHERE: I-195 at the 9th Street overpass

BACKGROUND: One eastbound and one westbound lane of I-195 will be closed during ongoing structural rehabilitation of the 9th Street Bridge, RMA Plaza Bridge and the Kanawha Plaza Bridge.

Latest Draft of Richmond Riverfront Plan

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Yesterday, the City’s Planning and Development Review announced and released “the Final Draft of the Richmond Riverfront Plan” (click here for large PDF).

Pages 26 to 29, the part of the Plan that deals with “Tredegar Green”, seem most applicable to Oregon Hill. I did not see anything about moving the Confederate White House.

The proposed 2nd Street Connector road is still in the plan, although many questions have still not been answered. More on this soon.

Cherry Street Re-Connection?

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I posted on this before, but new, conflicting information is still coming in.
Neighbors now say that they have heard this new ‘utility road’ from Riverside Park to where S. Cherry Street ends will be permanent.

In fact, Cherry Street used to be fully connected, as it looks on this old map:

Rumor is that neighbors as well as the City’s Parks and Rec Department are concerned by the lack of communication and what this road building is doing to create erosion behind Holly Street Playground.

Residents at the end of S. Cherry Street are also concerned about what this could mean for their enclave in the City, including the historic John Miller house which can be seen now from a new vantage point.

Re-Connecting Cherry Street to Riverside Park?

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What is the City doing?

I suspect they are just creating a service alley before they figure out what they will do with 816 Riverside Park, but could this be part of a larger plan to reconnect Cherry Street with Riverside Parkway? Who has the skinny? Anybody, Historic Richmond?

Update: According to nearby neighbors, this relates to the larger plumbing work that is being done throughout the neighborhood.

Previous Canal Bridge Gone/2015 UCI Road World Cycling Race Looms

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The previous canal bridge made from utility poles is now gone.

It is great to see people using the new canal bridge. (Though some jerk did dump a bucket of silver paint on it that had to be pressure washed off it). The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association may eventually throw a party to celebrate the new bridge. After all, its important to remember that it was that organization that secured the funding for it.

At the same time, one wonders how this plays into other riverfront planning. Evidently there are some high level meetings happening regarding Richmond 2015, the organizing committee charged with putting on the UCI Road World Championships.

Richmond 2015 has already come up with a course but will not disclose what it is for now. Officials say they want to work out contingencies before approaching affected communities.

The races will be disruptive to some residents because of road closings and the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to descend on the city.

But honestly, what is happening with the proposed ‘2nd Street Connector’? According to sources, C. Wayne Taylor’s questions are STILL waiting on answers from the City’s Economic Development Department.

Lots of Meetings Early This Week

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I already mentioned the water pollution meeting on Wednesday, but there are a few other important meetings this week. Tonight the City’s anti-poverty commission seeks public feedback. While the meeting is in Gilpin Court, it would be interesting to include an Oregon Hill perspective. Tuesday, there is the monthly Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting, but earlier the GRTC Task Force’s Macro Subcommittee will meet-

From City press release:

Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force has established and will hold two subcommittee meetings

All residents are invited and encouraged to attend

WHAT The Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force has established and will hold two subcommittee meetings. The subcommittees include: the Macro Subcommittee, which will focus on long range transit planning issues, and the Services Subcommittee, which will focus on bus users’ service issues.

The purpose of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force is to make recommendations to Richmond City Council with regard to enhancing mass transit in the Metro-Richmond area and the efficiency and effectiveness of the GRTC Transit System. The meeting is free and open to the public and all residents are invited and encouraged to attend.

The two Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force Subcommittee meetings will be held as follows:

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