Locals Protest Widening of Forest Hill Ave.
We’ve known from all the comments on this post and this one, that not everyone was on board with the proposed changes to Forest Hill Ave. This week Style Weekly talks with the various players in the road drama including former city planning director Rachel Flynn, Kathy Graziano, and Clare Novak who lives near Forest Hill Ave. Clare is concerned that the plan does not address many of the concerns of the locals and Rachel Flynn tends to agree.
Their concerns aren’t unfounded, says Rachel Flynn, the outspoken former city planning director. She says such projects often lead to more owner-occupied housing slowly going rental, then commercial, while property values decline. “I don’t know that will happen, but we’ve seen that before,” she says.The project reflects outdated methods of addressing traffic flow, says Flynn, who notes that a better solution would be to slow traffic down and encourage pass-through traffic to use nearby highways.
I just want to state for the record here since I was the first commenter on the opinion post that I will officially eat crow. Some of the other commenters were justified in stating that if this plan is not what the community wants than we should oppose it and I supported the plan as it was proposed in my self-interests to see some bike lanes installed. I unjustifiably assumed that the majority of the opposition was simply some NIMBY outrage but in retrospect I agree with these people that expansion of the surface area of Forest Hill Ave is not an appropriate way to develop the transportation infrastructure of the community. While I would have agreed with this position before, I considered it politically unfeasible and as such the wrong course of action to take. At this point, It is my opinion that this stretch of Forest Hill should be put on a “Road Diet” as the community has shown that the support exists to look into alternatives such as this in favor to an expansion of the road. I can admit I was wrong and I am proud that so many people have come together to advocate for a more sensible use of our space.
Wishing cars away will not make it so. As a resident of Stratford Hills, I fully support the project and hope the opposition will be overcome.
Has anyone suggested placing a traffic light at Rettig Road? It seems to me that that would address some of the neighborhood access/safety issues, AND act as a traffic calming device for through traffic.
Another question I have is whether or not Chesterfield County will be widening the stretch of FH Ave that traverses County land, west of Huguenot High and east of downtown Bonair. That stretch is only two lanes and creates a bottleneck for commuters.
Stuffa is right on. A light at Rettig would be great. It is difficult for me to determine how much of the front yards will be taken from the homes on the south side of FFA. Can anyone enlighten me?
I meant FHA (Forest Hill Ave)
You can get an idea of how much closer the proposed road would be to the houses by observing that water meters, hydrants and telephone poles are on the easement and not on private property. Somewhere there is a link to a GIS map showing the actual property lines.In any case, too close for comfort on a road where drivers routinely travel in excess of 50mph.
There is an abundance of data to support Ms. Flynn’s views that the stretch in question risks eventual conversion to commercial zoning. There are also many, many studies that show that road widening alleviates traffic for a short while, but eventually leads to even MORE traffic, more congestion, more accidents and more problems.
Re: #2 Stuffa
I agree that the stretch of Forest Hill between Buford Road and the city limit is a bottleneck, but doesn’t VDOT, not Chesterfield County, maintain that stretch? (I think VCOT maintains all CC roads).
@Pizza Girl- You are right, that is why we need to support projects in our community that reflect our needs, desires and interests, which for me, do not involve the “sacred cow” which is the automobile. As such, this is not opposition to cars, this is favoritism for peds and bikes, what happens after that, I cannot tell you but I hope it doesn’t involve more asphalt, commercial zoning, and unnecessary destruction of the neighborhood. The desired effects can be obtained without the additional asphalt.
Some stoplights in this corridor would help a lot. A narrow median between the center lanes would make it (seem) safer. This whole project seems like an odd, random use of a LOT of money, and I can’t understand what it’s supposed to accomplish. This isn’t (necessarily) a judgement against the project, but it is a judgement against how the project has been presented to the neighborhoods. There is a lot of conflicting information going around, and I don’t know what is true and what isn’t. They’ve been talking about it for well over 10 years. Could it be that it was a good idea then, but not now?
Until about 10-12 years ago there actually was a double double yellow line down the middle of the road, with space in between that created a bit of a buffer, but there was not real shoulder/biking space.
When the road was resurfaced, that spacing was changed to how it is now: more space on the shoulder, less in the center.
I may be wrong but the current proposal appears to be a better plan than anything that exists from Buford Road all the way down Semmes to the Sun Trust buildings, actually the Sun Trust stretch seems okay.
It has left turn lanes, I would love that on Semmes!
Forest Hill Ave. is a direct route from one area to another, there is no other satisfactory route for many people. I would gladly keep with the flow of traffic, which in Richmond is about 10mph over the limit, but there is no other route I would willingly take, Midlothian Turnpike or the Powhite doen’t get me where need to go.
I meant to say that I would like to see the speed limit lowered along the proposed section, current actual speeds that people drive are too fast.
Somebody please sum this up for me – Adding bike lanes here (currently the key impassable link between grest bike paths along the river)is such a great step forward, PLEASE dont tell me they’re going to cancel this project because everyone’s against it. Is there any middle ground? A way to add bike lanes and landscaping (this is a prime gateway for our neighborhood) without going too wide?
@Steve- It’s called a road diet. Google it. Basically you take out some lanes currently used for cars and allocate that space for other uses (bike lanes/landscaping/etc).
Bike lanes are not my primary interest, but a turn lane is. Too many close calls getting rear ended on that stretch where folks stop to turn left into Willow Oaks and where I stop to turn left to get to Granite Recreation.
Bike lanes would simply be a bonus, and a nice one.
I’d love to signs on FHA to the effect: This is a road that passes through neighborhoods. It is not designed to be an expressway. If you use FHA as your commuter route, expect delays, lower speed limits and congestion.
I commuted on my bicycle for years from 43rd and Forest Hill to my teaching job at Huguenot. The white-knuckle part of the ride was from Powhite to Hathaway, for sure.