RICHMOND, Va. — It's been nearly two years since the removal of the statue that honored Confederate General A.P. Hill. at the intersection of Laburnum Avenue and Hermitage Road in Richmond. The City of Richmond is still working on its replacement.
The Department of Public Works is hosting a public meeting on the intersection project from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at nearby Linwood Holton Elementary School.
“The meeting will feature an informational display where participants can review preferred alternatives and get results from the previous survey along with feedback from the prior public meeting. It will also provide direct engagement with city project engineers and consultants to address concerns and make suggestions,” according to a press release.
A study conducted by Henrico engineering consultant Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. revealed a 71 percent decrease in the number of crashes at Laburnum and Hermitage since the removal of the Hill statue.
The AP Hill statue is gone but traffic concerns persist, drivers say
“I am so grateful that it's safer for people in cars and people driving when they go through the intersection. We haven't really seen that shift in improving the infrastructure for active transportation users, for our friends who walk and roll through the community in that area,” said Tara FitzPatrick, Richmond Public School’s Safe Routes to School coordinator.
The entrance to Holton Elementary sits less than a block from the intersection, yet FitzPatrick said most families avoid walking to school because of the dangers associated with the roads.
Six alternative intersection designs have been proposed including a traditional signalized intersection, a protected intersection with protected left turns, and two versions of a roundabout.
The study showed a roundabout with northbound and southbound slip lanes was the most preferred alternative for the public and the contractors.
“We also need to make sure that there are opportunities for those folks who are outside of the car to be able to cross. So I don't have a single best design so far that I love,” FitzPatrick stated.
Watch crews remove Confederate General A.P. Hill statue from monument
She said there were other ways to make our roads safer without a design change.
“I think that getting cars off the road, getting people out of cars, getting more folks using active transportation, especially when it comes to commuting to and from schools, is extremely important. Getting more people on buses. This is a great bus route here,” FitzPatrick explained.
There are also several short-term improvements Kimley-Horn recommends the City could make to help improve safety and user protection at the intersection in its given condition.
Those include:
- Installing a westbound No U-Turn sign in the median opening at Hill Monument Pkwy on Laburnum Avenue
- Installing pedestrian countdown signals for all approaches
- Erecting flexible delineators to gore out the wide intersection radii to tighten the intersection and provide better protected and shorter crossing distances for pedestrians
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