On Nov. 5 from 6 to 8 p.m., “Are We There Yet?,” the second installment of The Valentine’s 2019-20 Controversy/History conversation series, will explore the complicated and controversial subject of transportation and parking in Richmond — from the disruption of historic sites and burial grounds through transportation policies to the city’s current parking plans and where we could go in the future.
The event is co-hosted by Valentine Director William Martin and “Coffee With Strangers RVA” host Kelli Lemon and will include guests Lynne Lancaster, deputy director of parking and mobility with the City of Richmond Department of Public Works, and Chet Parsons, director of transportation for the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission.
Richmond Safe Routes to Schools Coordinator Tara FitzPatrick rides her bike with sons Oliver, 6, and Felix, 2.
Whether it’s downtown or in the city’s residential neighborhoods, during rush hour or on weekends, Richmond drivers know the challenges of searching for parking, crossing their fingers while driving circles around busy city blocks.
Local groups are working to change that frustrating experience by promoting more active ways to get around and advocating for infrastructure improvements to make the city more friendly for cyclists and pedestrians.
Parking woes and a passion for biking led Tara FitzPatrick to leave her car at home and opt for active transportation wherever possible. As coordinator of the Richmond Safe Routes to Schools program, she works to encourage parents and students to walk or bike to city schools, advocates for infrastructure improvements, and teaches kids about bike safety. She’s also taught her own sons about the importance of an active lifestyle and shown them they don’t have to leave their hobbies behind as they get older.
“If you love doing it, you should keep doing it, and honestly, the older I get, the more I ride my bike,” FitzPatrick says.
Biking has become second nature for her boys, ages 6 and 2, and alternative transportation has quickly become the norm in her family, she says. In addition to helping them to reduce their carbon footprint and get regular exercise, FitzPatrick says biking has created opportunities for her family to get better acquainted with the city, meet neighbors and spend quality time together.
“I do think that having my bike means that we can take a few extra minutes to get someplace, and we can have conversations along the way that we couldn’t have in the car,” she says. “My kids, I think, have a better sense of location and understanding of the city of Richmond.”
With new options like the GRTC Pulse and electric scooters, multimodal transportation is on the rise in Richmond. A forthcoming update to the city’s master planning document may further open the door for biking, walking and rapid transit to flourish in the city.
The comprehensive update to the city’s master plan, dubbed Richmond 300 after the city’s 300th anniversary in 2037, will outline best practices for capital improvements, land rezoning and public projects over the next two decades and will take aim at the city’s public parking policies.
Improving access to parking, making more efficient use of the city’s existing parking stock and supporting multimodal transportation options were the three main goals outlined in a parking study commissioned by the city’s Department of Planning and Development Review during the Richmond 300 development process.
FitzPatrick arrives with Oliver at Linwood Holton Elementary School on Richmond’s North Side, stopping to talk with fellow parent Kevin Badgett.
As any Richmond driver knows, parking in the city’s busiest commercial and residential areas can be near impossible, but Bike Walk RVA Director Louise Lockett Gordon says a scarce public parking supply can sometimes be a good thing.
“I think that parking does work in tandem with shifting folks from transporting themselves a little bit more actively, rather than with a car,” she says. “If it was easy for me to find a parking space, then maybe I would just do that instead of thinking about other ways to get around. I think we actually have plenty of [parking] space; perhaps we’re just not managing it as well as we could.”
Standardizing how curbside parking areas are marked, implementing universal parking enforcement, and revising existing permit programs and time limits were among the top recommendations made in the parking study.
Though Gordon’s focus is on promoting active transportation, safety issues that come with lax parking enforcement practices and a lack of bike-friendly infrastructure are also serious concerns. Although she does her best to encourage people to commute by bike, she acknowledges that the switch can be daunting for some.
“I find that when I’m [biking] in a lane with cars, I’m in a lot more stress than when I’m in a bicycle lane, or a protected lane or shared-use path, and I think that a lot of times, that stress level may not get taken into account,” Gordon says. “Those kinds of things are what makes or breaks folks’ decisions to get out and be more active in their transportation rather than just hopping in a car, if they have one.”
Gordon and FitzPatrick agree that the new two-way protected bike lane along Franklin Street has been a game-changer and could serve as a model throughout the city. According to cyclist and pedestrian counts conducted by Bike Walk RVA, Gordon says that bicycle traffic on Franklin Street doubled since the protected bike lane was installed last year. For FitzPatrick, the bike lane made something as simple as her son’s commute to and from school safer and more exciting.
“Before, we had to take Grace Street when we were coming home and take Franklin going to; this way, we could always take Franklin and he could always feel comfortable being on the street, and on occasion, I would let him come out into the cycle track when I didn’t see any traffic nearby, and he loved that,” she says. “It was exhilarating for him to have a special place for him to ride his bike.”
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