Richmond Region Transportation

[ancientcarpenter]

4 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

 

As someone who rides Amtrak multiple times per month between Staples Mill and Alexandria, these new trains will be a breathe of fresh air. Couple that with some station upgrades and hourly service and the Richmond to DC rail corridor will start feeling very European by 2030.

How long does it take you now to go from Staples mill to Alexandria? Says these new trains will go at 125mph. How much quicker will you get there when the Amtrak "Airo" can go that new speed?

[123fakestreet]

11 minutes ago, ancientcarpenter said:

How long does it take you now to go from Staples mill to Alexandria? Says these new trains will go at 125mph. How much quicker will you get there when the Amtrak "Airo" can go that new speed?

Not much quicker without upgrading the track. IIRC between Richmond and DC there are a few upgrades completed with more on the way but they still only allow for a max speed of 90 mph, and even that is probably just very brief sections. All in all I doubt even after everything is completed it will shave more than 20 min off the trip.

[blopp1234]

10 minutes ago, ancientcarpenter said:

How long does it take you now to go from Staples mill to Alexandria? Says these new trains will go at 125mph. How much quicker will you get there when the Amtrak "Airo" can go that new speed?

Right now it takes about 2 hours, which is usually quicker than driving it. Any possible drop in time on that trip would come from quicker acceleration out of stops, not from higher track speeds. In order to break the existing 70 mph speed limit between Richmond and DC, track and signal upgrades will need to be done. In order to hit 125 mph (which could really only be done between Fredericksburg and Ashland), the entire corridor would need to be grade deprecated, eliminating any level crossings. While possible, this would be a huge undertaking and isn’t very likely for atleast a decade. Electrification, which should be the final goal, is a long way off as a whole separate set of tracks would need to be built exclusively for passenger service, which is expensive to do as new bridges all along the corridor would cost billions of dollars.

 

[I miss RVA]

GRTC moving forward with adding four articulated buses to the PULSE Broad Street Line (And I'm identifying it as such given that things are also moving forward for development/construction of the north-south line). The new vehicles are expected to be in service by 2025, and GRTC's long-range plan is to replace ALL PULSE line buses with the longer, higher-capacity articulated types.

Bids for the alteration/reconstruction of PULSE's current 26 stations will go out before the end of the year with construction slated to begin in February.

Jack Jacobs' article also gave a few additional nuggets regarding medium-to-long-range plans for PULSE expansion:

The new Parham Road station is set to begin construction by 2026 with the Broad Street Line extension in service by 2028. Construction of the north-south PULSE line is planned to begin by 2029 and to be in service by 2031. Ugh... as Elton John once sang - "... and I think it's gonna be a long long time..."

NONETHELESS - it's awesome to see these things moving forward!

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/10/30/grtc-to-introduce-larger-articulated-buses-on-the-pulse-line/

EXAMPLE OF THE KIND OF ARTICULATED BUS GRTC IS LOOKING TO ADD

[Flood Zone]

I would be stunned if any N/S line were in service by 2031.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, Flood Zone said:

I would be stunned if any N/S line were in service by 2031.

Here's hoping that you -- and all of us -- are not merely stunned, but absolutely dazed and amazed come 2031 (or earlier). I know - that's pie in the sky, and I don't disagree with you at all. Still - it's a sad state of affairs that a full eight-year window from now should seem overly ambitious and optimistic (and quite unrealistic) - but, you're probably right on this.

Edited October 30, 2023 by I miss RVA

[plain]

Upthread, I said that work had already started on modifying the stations, but I've seemed to be mistaken. It was actually some minor work being done (not sure what). However, the westbound Government Center station indeed has the space needed for the longer buses.

[I miss RVA]

Posting this here because there is inclusion of the new north-south PULSE BRT line (and some clarity on what looks like is going to be the exact routing).

Axios Richmond has reporting today on the city's recently released draft-version of its "transportation action plan" entitled Richmond Connects. Two years in the making, the plan draws on feedback from more than 20,000 residents who either participated in online surveys, joined town halls or otherwise made their thoughts known to the city. Topping the list of citizen requests:  improving the city's network of sidewalks - meaning, more sidewalks and repaired sidewalks.

Of the more than 100 action items that are proposed, a few stood out:

• Better lighting in Church Hill (like sidewalk projects, very practical!)
• Extension of the Broad Street (east-west) PULSE line to the airport (absent a rail connection, I'm VERY much in favor of this one!)
• Experimenting with closing Carytown to vehicular traffic on weekends (I'm not in favor of this one at all.)
• A PULSE park-and-ride at Willow Lawn (from all indications VERY much needed.)
• Protected bike lanes on Monument Avenue (very good idea!)

According to Axios, the city is accepting feedback through December 5. No indication when it will be presented to City Council for review/consideration and a vote on adopting it. The article includes a link (below) to the city's site where you can find links to download a pdf version of the current draft plan as well as a link to a REALLY sweet interactive map. (also below).

A note on the north-south PULSE LINE:

One interesting point: I was tinkering around in the interactive map - and it appears that the north-south PULSE line is going to routed through downtown via Chamberlayne Ave to Leigh Street - and then Leigh to 8th street south to the Manchester Bridge (and 9th street from the Manchester Bridge to Leigh on the northbound run). THAT said - it appears to be all but certain that it will NOT be routed west to include the VCU academic campus. (My own personal speculation is: this perhaps opens the door for a second north-south routing that would split off at Chamberlayne and follow Belividere Street south through VCU, the Lee Bridge, Cowardin Avenue and the Pike.)

From today's Axios Richmond:

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/11/28/richmond-connects-transportation-plan?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_richmond&stream=top

The city's overall transportation plan site can be found here:

https://rvaconnects.com/near-term-action-plan/

The interactive map of the draft plan can be found here:

https://timmons-group.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=ead6b8cb898e46049e790ef4bbcc5dff

A downloadable PDF version of the current draft plan can be found here:

https://rvaconnects.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ActionPlan_231120_ForPublicReview_v2.pdf

Edited November 28, 2023 by I miss RVA

[Brent114]

The Carytown thing is so dumb, IMO.

There is not enough foot traffic there to ever make the place feel busy without vehicular  traffic.   I drove through there at lunch today.  Each block had  maybe 6-8 people total (both sides of the street).   Dilute that number across the expanse of Cary Street and it’s Deadsville  most days out of the week.   Saturdays won’t be much better either.  

The scale and architecture of the buildings will never allow it to feel special or cozy (unlike in Charlottesville where the downtown mall is located along the most handsome and architecturally significant part of the  city, campus notwithstanding).  The buildings are too far apart and low slung .  If the plan called for razing everything and replacing it with 5+ story buildings it could work, but the folks around there would cry themselves to death if that was ever proposed.  
 

The most egregious thing, IMO , is that the same people who, twice in a row, refused economic development in South Richmond are in support of South Richmonders paying 100’s of millions of dollars to rebuild a WORKING retail district in one of the wealthiest areas of the city (and metro). 
 

The idea is provincial (unlike flying out of Dulles lol), wasteful and would be a shockingly tone deaf expenditure.   One more time for those in the back:  the same people that turned down out of town money (no public money) for South Richmond want everyone to pay  (and it won’t ever appear on a ballot) to rebuild the most successful area in Richmond just because. 

[wrldcoupe4]

Agree it would be a huge mistake. Not opposed to an occasional closing but nothing permanent. 

[Flood Zone]

17 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

A PULSE park-and-ride at Willow Lawn (from all indications VERY much needed.)

It is very much needed, but why would this be a City of Richmond project? Only the extreme eastern side of WL is in Richmond, whereas the WL Pulse station is to the west of the shopping center in Henrico. (The Staples Mill station is a possibilty for a park-and-ride, I suppose, but I have no idea where it would go.)

[wrldcoupe4]

1650 Willow Lawn Drive is for sale. It's about a block from the Willow Lawn Pulse stations. Scrape and do a park & ride with ground floor commercial space or something above.

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Flood Zone said:

It is very much needed, but why would this be a City of Richmond project? Only the extreme eastern side of WL is in Richmond, whereas the WL Pulse station is to the west of the shopping center in Henrico. (The Staples Mill station is a possibilty for a park-and-ride, I suppose, but I have no idea where it would go.)

It wouldn't actually be a city project. I think the city board that conducted this study accepted all suggestions for better transportation options - and the Willow Lawn park-and-ride is something even city residents may be onboard with. Plus - I doubt the surveys, etc., were limited to or filtered to include only city residents. I'm sure there were many respondents from the suburban counties who participated.

In any event, it wouldn't be a city-funded project. Most likely, the funding sources would be those standard sources GRTC has been using to develop the PULSE system. The (relatively new) CVTA would have significant impact on sourcing money for a park-and-ride. Not sure how much Henrico County would chip in - aside from perhaps simple approvals from the board of supervisors. I'm thinking GRTC or the CVTA or whatever regional public entity that handles this stuff would purchase the land and have the park-and-ride facility built.

[Flood Zone]

38 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

It wouldn't actually be a city project. I think the city board that conducted this study accepted all suggestions for better transportation options - and the Willow Lawn park-and-ride is something even city residents may be onboard with.

Ah, that makes sense.

I do like the focus on sidewalks. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Flood Zone

[georgeglass]

Saw this in my Google news feed today... Hadn't seen it posted before, but maybe this is old news??

 

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/virginia/amtrak-plans-to-connect-richmond-virginia-raleigh-north-carolina-in-2026/291-5aa793e6-0c1f-4e0a-8eaf-fde226ab4960

[KJHburg]

The DC area has taken notice of Pulse BRT lines.

Richmond releases alignment of second Pulse bus rapid transit route – Greater Greater Washington (ggwash.org)

On 12/3/2023 at 9:20 PM, georgeglass said:

Saw this in my Google news feed today... Hadn't seen it posted before, but maybe this is old news??

 

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/virginia/amtrak-plans-to-connect-richmond-virginia-raleigh-north-carolina-in-2026/291-5aa793e6-0c1f-4e0a-8eaf-fde226ab4960

No they have been talking about this and NC really wants to connect Richmond to Raleigh as we have frequent train service between Charlotte and Raleigh that has good ridership.  So this missing link to Richmond to Raleigh would connect Richmond with all of NC's major cities.  

[blopp1234]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

No they have been talking about this and NC really wants to connect Richmond to Raleigh as we have frequent train service between Charlotte and Raleigh that has good ridership.  So this missing link to Richmond to Raleigh would connect Richmond with all of NC's major cities.  

Speaking of Richmond to Raleigh, I’ve heard rumors that the Richmond to Raleigh corridor will receive $1 billion in funding to be announced within the next few weeks as part of the FRA Corridor ID funds from the Infrastructure Bill.

The funding to be allocated will go towards the reconstruction of the abandoned S Line.

 

This will be huge for Richmond as it will shave over an hour off the travel time to Raleigh, which is currently over 3 hours by train. Also sets the groundwork for more service along that corridor in the future. 
 

Once the official announcement has been made, I’ll make sure to post it (unless someone beats me to it!)

[I miss RVA]

58 minutes ago, blopp1234 said:

Speaking of Richmond to Raleigh, I’ve heard rumors that the Richmond to Raleigh corridor will receive $1 billion in funding to be announced within the next few weeks as part of the FRA Corridor ID funds from the Infrastructure Bill.

The funding to be allocated will go towards the reconstruction of the abandoned S Line.

 

This will be huge for Richmond as it will shave over an hour off the travel time to Raleigh, which is currently over 3 hours by train. Also sets the groundwork for more service along that corridor in the future. 
 

Once the official announcement has been made, I’ll make sure to post it (unless someone beats me to it!)

i keep hoping this kind of funding will also include that which is necessary to get the process of replacing the bridge crossing the river downtown so that all north-south trains can be rerouted to serve Main Street Station. Much as the other news is exciting, it's somewhat diminished if trains are still bypassing downtown altogether via the CSX-A-line bridge on north-south routes. Amtrak plans ultimately for all Amtrak service through the area to serve both MSS and Staples Mill, but this requires replacement of the bridge downtown.

[BigBobbyG]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

i keep hoping this kind of funding will also include that which is necessary to get the process of replacing the bridge crossing the river downtown so that all north-south trains can be rerouted to serve Main Street Station. Much as the other news is exciting, it's somewhat diminished if trains are still bypassing downtown altogether via the CSX-A-line bridge on north-south routes. Amtrak plans ultimately for all Amtrak service through the area to serve both MSS and Staples Mill, but this requires replacement of the bridge downtown.

If I’m reading what you wrote correctly it’s not the A-line bridge that would need replacing? Where is the bridge that does need to be switched out?
 

In any case I fully agree that I want everything routed through MSS station eventually. 

[123fakestreet]

2 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

Speaking of Richmond to Raleigh, I’ve heard rumors that the Richmond to Raleigh corridor will receive $1 billion in funding to be announced within the next few weeks as part of the FRA Corridor ID funds from the Infrastructure Bill.

This is being pushed by NC because once they link to Richmond, Richmond is then the link to DC and through DC the rest of the northeast.

Edited December 5, 2023 by 123fakestreet

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, BigBobbyG said:

If I’m reading what you wrote correctly it’s not the A-line bridge that would need replacing? Where is the bridge that does need to be switched out?
 

In any case I fully agree that I want everything routed through MSS station eventually. 

Nope - not the gorgeous and iconic A-Line bridge. That bad boy will be around forever, methinks. 

Rather, what's to be replaced is the old, kinda low-slung bridge that goes south from Main Street Station across the river into Manchester. Trains have no way of crossing the river downtown right now. Well, passenger trains. I don't know if it's still open to freight or not. But that bridge connects Main Street Station with the corridor that runs through Manchester and South Richmond, running more-or-less parallel to I-95 and later Route 1. It meets up with the A-Line in Chester, just south of route 288.

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by I miss RVA

[KJHburg]

7 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

Speaking of Richmond to Raleigh, I’ve heard rumors that the Richmond to Raleigh corridor will receive $1 billion in funding to be announced within the next few weeks as part of the FRA Corridor ID funds from the Infrastructure Bill.

The funding to be allocated will go towards the reconstruction of the abandoned S Line.

 

This will be huge for Richmond as it will shave over an hour off the travel time to Raleigh, which is currently over 3 hours by train. Also sets the groundwork for more service along that corridor in the future. 
 

Once the official announcement has been made, I’ll make sure to post it (unless someone beats me to it!)

Rumors are true and Sen Tillis from NC announced it today.  Here is a story from the Triangle Biz Journal in Raleigh

A new passenger rail route between Raleigh and Richmond has secured a $1 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The grant, announced Tuesday by the office of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, will fund a route expected to better connect North Carolina with Virginia, Washington D.C., and the Northeast Corridor.

The route is planned to along the CSX Transportation “S-Line” and is part of an effort to make passenger rail more resilient in the Southeast. Joe Milazzo, CEO of the Regional Transportation Alliance, a business coalition out of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, called the planned railway “transformational” and something the Triangle business community has consistently supported.   

The proposed route would go directly north from Raleigh, while the current passenger line runs east through Wilson and then turns north to Rocky Mount.

“From a business standpoint, it will rapidly ‘connect the capitals’ of Raleigh, Richmond and Washington – downtown to downtown,” Milazzo said. “It will shave more than an hour of rail time to points north from the metropolitan Triangle, with future speeds up to 110 mph, which will make this an increasingly attractive travel option."  

The North Carolina Department of Transportation confirmed the funding but declined to comment, saying more details would be released in the days ahead.

NCDOT and Amtrak are providing a 20 percent non-Federal match to fund the project. The Federal Railroad Administration expects an initial obligation of fiscal year 2022-23 funds of nearly $480 million, with contingent commitments from in fiscal years 2024 through 2026 providing the balance of the funds.

Amtrak has said it plans to double ridership by 2040. Across its network in fiscal 2023, more than 28 million customers rode its trains nationwide, fueled by its Northeast Corridor – the very region the new line is expected to better connect. 


In North Carolina, Amtrak's passenger count has been rising. NC By Train, which provides daily train service between Raleigh, Charlotte and the Northeast and is managed by the NCDOT Rail Division, saw its highest ridership in its 32-year history in 2022 with more than 522,000 passengers. And 2023 is on pace to break that record, as ridership in the first three quarters of 2023 increased 23 percent over the same time period in 2022.

NCDOT’s rail division recently applied for federal funding to explore 12 new routes to destinations such as Asheville and Wilmington. And it’s also applied for funds for final engineering and construction work on a proposed passenger rail route between Raleigh and Wake Forest.""

 

 

[ancientcarpenter]

12 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Rumors are true and Sen Tillis from NC announced it today.  Here is a story from the Triangle Biz Journal in Raleigh

A new passenger rail route between Raleigh and Richmond has secured a $1 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The grant, announced Tuesday by the office of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, will fund a route expected to better connect North Carolina with Virginia, Washington D.C., and the Northeast Corridor.

The route is planned to along the CSX Transportation “S-Line” and is part of an effort to make passenger rail more resilient in the Southeast. Joe Milazzo, CEO of the Regional Transportation Alliance, a business coalition out of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, called the planned railway “transformational” and something the Triangle business community has consistently supported.   

The proposed route would go directly north from Raleigh, while the current passenger line runs east through Wilson and then turns north to Rocky Mount.

“From a business standpoint, it will rapidly ‘connect the capitals’ of Raleigh, Richmond and Washington – downtown to downtown,” Milazzo said. “It will shave more than an hour of rail time to points north from the metropolitan Triangle, with future speeds up to 110 mph, which will make this an increasingly attractive travel option."  

The North Carolina Department of Transportation confirmed the funding but declined to comment, saying more details would be released in the days ahead.

NCDOT and Amtrak are providing a 20 percent non-Federal match to fund the project. The Federal Railroad Administration expects an initial obligation of fiscal year 2022-23 funds of nearly $480 million, with contingent commitments from in fiscal years 2024 through 2026 providing the balance of the funds.

Amtrak has said it plans to double ridership by 2040. Across its network in fiscal 2023, more than 28 million customers rode its trains nationwide, fueled by its Northeast Corridor – the very region the new line is expected to better connect. 


In North Carolina, Amtrak's passenger count has been rising. NC By Train, which provides daily train service between Raleigh, Charlotte and the Northeast and is managed by the NCDOT Rail Division, saw its highest ridership in its 32-year history in 2022 with more than 522,000 passengers. And 2023 is on pace to break that record, as ridership in the first three quarters of 2023 increased 23 percent over the same time period in 2022.

NCDOT’s rail division recently applied for federal funding to explore 12 new routes to destinations such as Asheville and Wilmington. And it’s also applied for funds for final engineering and construction work on a proposed passenger rail route between Raleigh and Wake Forest.""

 

 

 

Senator Tillis is only one of 17 Republicans who crossed party lines and voted with the Democrats on President Biden's Infrastructure bill to make this Raleigh>Richmond rail possible. 

Amazing what can be done when bipartisanship comes into play!

Love the (re)building of America. My only wish is that it could get built faster! 

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026486578/senate-republican-votes-infrastructure-bill

 

Since we are on the subject of the infrastructure bill, my lead pipes in the city of RVA were just replaced for free. Look into it - it's a very easy process. $15k worth of work cost me $0  Huge for my family because I (as of now) have 2 very young kids that would be directly affected by this, along with my wife and me of course. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by ancientcarpenter

[Flood Zone]

19 minutes ago, ancientcarpenter said:

Since we are on the subject of the infrastructure bill, my lead pipes in the city of RVA were just replaced for free. Look into it - it's a very easy process. $15k worth of work cost me $0  Huge for my family because I (as of now) have 2 very young kids that would be directly affected by this, along with my wife and me of course. 

OK ... is that something you arranged through the City?

[ancientcarpenter]

56 minutes ago, Flood Zone said:

OK ... is that something you arranged through the City?

You call a company and they arrange it with the city. You literally just call them and they do 99% of the work. Very easy.

I used SA Toller company. They were great and local. They all come out and test your pipe to make sure it is lead as well as that is the first step.