Richmond Connects Visioning Update To date there have been four elements of the visioning process: Vision20 Night at Byrd Theatre on May 3rd Advisory Committee Meeting on May 12 th Public Visioning Workshop on May 17 th Internal City Staff Visioning Workshop on July 11 th This memo summarizes some of the findings of those elements. Vision20 Night Thirteen alternative visions were presented in short presentations at the Byrd Theatre. Several themes emerged from this exercise: 1. Every presentation included desire for more walkable environments and an increase in bicycling lanes, amenities, etc. 2. Every presentation included references to an increase in transit in the City as part of the vision. 3. Over half of the presentations included a future vision wherein land use was more closely linked to transportation planning and included elements like transit-oriented development, Complete Streets, limiting sprawl, etc. 4. Regionalism was referenced in several presentations from changing focus on moving cars to better regional cooperation for transit planning. 5. Sustainability and improving the environmental was also referenced in several presentations. Advisory Committee Meeting On May 12 th the Advisory Committee of the Richmond Strategic Multimodal Transportation Plan, entitled Richmond Connects, met for a visioning workshop in order to develop a vision statement for the Plan. Advisory Committee members were broken into groups to brainstorm elements of the system that were performing well and not so well and then each member was asked to develop an overall vision statement and the end of the session. The following vision statements were developed by the Advisory Committee: A. It s 2035..Richmond has developed, redeveloped and preserved the built and natural landscape promoting commerce, communication and the environment by providing
transportation choices and connectivity between modes (rail, road, air, water bike & pedestrian) B. The City of Richmond.will support a diverse community linked by a bikeable, walkable, transit friendly transportation system. This vision recognizes a balanced, multimodal transportation that sustains livability, economic and environmental health of the city. C. In 2035 The Richmond region has cooperation and funding for a comprehensive, integrated, reliable multimodal transportation system with attractive streetscapes that enable access for everyone to all points within the city including access to the river, airport, region and beyond. D. In 2030, transportation in Richmond will: -Be multimodal -Have user-friendly technology -Support fast and leisurely travel -Complement streetscapes and neighborhoods E. Transportation in the City of Richmond in 2035 will be: -Safe -Accessible to all -Developed and supported regionally -Promote healthy lifestyles -Economically viable -Environmentally healthy F. Vision: To provide a cost-effective, easily understood, comprehensive transportation program to promote safety, health, and the well being of each citizen living in and visiting the area. G. Vision: A multimodal transportation system that is maintained at a very high level in order to enhance citizen mobility and neighborhood vitality. A transportation system that places as much priority on neighborhoods and communities as it does on moving cars faster. H. Richmond..will be a model of functional, efficient multimodal intercity and intracity transportation that preserves and highlights our resources as a historic capital city through
inclusive multi-party planning, cooperation and funding. I. In 2030..transportation in Richmond will be universally accessible to all persons to utilize in a safe and efficient manner. A multimodal transportation system in which our historic past it preserved, regional cooperation is established and goods, people and services are moved efficiently. J. The vision for transportation in Richmond: Create a transportation framework that moves out citizens and goods economically, efficiently and sustainably and connects our communities for the 21 st century and beyond. K. Richmond will..have a high quality, safe, sustainable transportation system that is accessible to all, promotes strong, healthy communities and protects our environment. L. In 2030..Richmond offers a variety of transportation choices which move all people in a greener way. These choices promote and preserve the natural beauty and vibrancy of the city and its neighborhoods for the enjoyment of all. The vision statements developed by the Advisory Committee were then presented during a public workshop on May 17 th at the Carillon in Byrd Park. Public Workshop Visioning For the workshop information on existing conditions was presented on Boards and Peter Chapman made a welcoming statement to kick off the entire planning process for transportation. There were several stations at the meeting a visioning station, a Complete Streets exercise, and a mapping exercise where citizens could identify any existing concerns in their neighborhoods. For this memo, we will focus on the visioning exercise and the Complete Streets exercise. Vision Statement Reviews Citizens were asked to vote on which vision statement they preferred for the Richmond Connects plan. Vision statements B & E garnered the most votes, closely followed by vision statement G. The common theme among the leading vision statements was their focus on transforming Richmond s transportation system into an accessible, multimodal system that promotes both economic and environmental health. Complete Street Exercise A Complete Street exercise was performed during the May 17 th public workshop. The goal of the exercise was two-fold: a) to inform participants about what a Complete Street was and how
it worked, and b) to see if there was consensus on the elements that citizens would include in creating their own vision of a Complete Street. Staff developed six (6) different conceptual building-to-building cross sections and had the public vote for their preferred cross section. The developed cross sections showed various options for what the building-to-building typical cross-section could look like along Franklin Street and allowed citizens to voice their preference for operations, sidewalk widths, street furnishings, bike lanes, transit lanes and on-street parking. The preferred cross section, as voted on by citizens, included two 11 one-way travel lanes, a 10 separated two-way bicycle lane and 9 parallel on-street parking lane. Citizens also supported a typical section that included twoway traffic with a 12 travel lane and 5 bike lane in each direction with no on-street parking. It should be noted that the concepts that included the highest level of bicycle lanes performed the strongest. In addition to the cross sections developed by Baker, citizens were also able to produce their own preferred cross-sections. Baker provided cut-outs for various street features that allowed citizens to configure their own cross section for a 66 building-to-building street. Each cross section submitted was a multimodal cross section, accommodating pedestrian and either bicycle or public transportation modes of travel. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority preferred to incorporate bicycle lanes and public transportation into the cross section. Out of the 10 cross sections submitted, 80% incorporated both bicycle lanes and travel lanes wide enough to support public transportation (11 or greater) into the cross section. This indicates that the citizens prefer multimodal Complete Streets where the automobile is accommodated alongside public transportation, bicycles and pedestrians. Other Comments from May 17 Public Workshop: Richmond SAMGOTS : Provide the City of Richmond, VA as well as the surrounding metropolitan area with SAMGOTS (a Safe And Multimodal Green Operating Transportation System) that reliably serves a broad range of transportation users such as bicyclist, auto drivers, pedestrian (walkers-tourists-hikers); handicapped citizens; transit operators & riders, truckers, students, segway users and others such as intercity rail travelers and airplane flyers. Focus on short term, intermediate and long range goals in implementing goals related to transportation safety and reliable mobility. Like Amsterdam- have designated through-routes for bicyclists (full cross-town routes) o Will enhance travel & tourism o Needs everyone to respect the bike lane. Annual Bus pass program (similar to VCU students access) o Employers could help o Grants for low income
o Equal treatment as for parking pass Include reliable in vision statement The City is a place we live. Streets should be humanistic- safe, beautiful, and pedestrians need shade, safety and wayfinding. Need more/better accessible and inclusive connections to increase interactions- jobs, shopping, recreation/social housing opportunities (affordable & accessible). Internal City Staff Visioning Workshop Baker introduced City staff to vision statements from other cities and regions and the vision statements developed from the previous visioning workshops. The 3 most popular vision statements were statements B, E and G. Issues regarding the wording and meaning of the visions statements were discussed. Issues included whether the wording was strong enough in some statements and what the meaning of walkability is. Staff indicated support for multimodal accessibility and universal access in the vision statement. Staff came to the conclusion that they liked the following aspects of the vision statements from other cities: Multimodal- universal access Connectivity Environmental Economic Development Infrastructure Maintenance Safety & Operations Specific items to be included were a bikeable, walkable, transit friendly transportation system with a focus on the neighborhoods and community.