The Carytown stretch of West Cary Street, with the Byrd Theater rising above it. (Photo by Charlotte Matherly)
A proposal being pondered by the City of Richmond could have Carytown closing off to car traffic in the coming years.
While the idea to make the retail corridor a pedestrian-only thoroughfare has been floated casually for years, it has gained traction of late through an ongoing online survey conducted by the city and resulting social media chatter.
It’s one of 140 ideas being considered by the department of public works for Richmond Connects, a strategic transportation improvement plan in the works.
Other major proposals in the Richmond Connects plan open to public feedback are a microtransit zone for Southside, work on the city’s stretch of the Fall Line Trail and reconnecting Jackson Ward with a bridge deck over I-95.
Kelli Rowan, a consultant for the public works department’s office of equitable transit and mobility, said her team is preparing to release a draft of an action plan this fall based on a combination of the survey results and a policy guide called Path to Equity, adopted by City Council last year. The action plan would then at some point be placed on the council agenda for discussion.
A graphic explaining the timeline of the Richmond Connects process.
Currently, the city is circulating a survey to gather public input on the recommendations, which came from a multitude of sources, including public outreach, public works and other regional planning bodies.
Each proposal would meet an “equity-centered need,” Rowan said. Once the survey wraps up in a few weeks, they’ll narrow down the list by at least half, Rowan said. Ideas will be categorized into different timelines: immediate, 0-5 years and 5-10 years.
As of Aug. 4, Rowan said, the survey had over 6,200 respondents – almost 70 percent of those for the area that includes Carytown. At that time, roughly 83 percent of respondents supported the proposal for a car-free Carytown and 17 percent opposed. Participants also marked it as “most important” when asked to pick their top projects.
Since it’s still early in the process, Rowan said there aren’t set details yet on what a car-free Carytown would look like – such as which streets would be affected, how traffic would be impacted and potential parking solutions. The survey question outlines a nine-block stretch between Thompson Street and Arthur Ashe Boulevard for exclusive pedestrian and bicycle use.
Most Carytown business owners haven’t made up their minds on the issue yet. Kelley Banks, the city liaison for the Carytown Merchants Association (CMA) and co-owner of Merrymaker Fine Paper on Cary Street, said a representative from the city attended CMA’s Wednesday meeting to inform business owners of the proposal.
“I think they are interested and not necessarily just opposed to changes, but they are certainly kind of concerned about some of the more practical issues like parking, like truck delivery,” Banks said of other businesses in the neighborhood.
Parking seems to be the biggest holdup for business owners, who say some customers are already hesitant to visit Carytown for that very reason.
“We already have enough people not wanting to come because they’re worried about where to park,” said Bonnie Patterson, owner of Bonnie’s Boutique at 3009 W. Cary Street. “Now they really won’t want to come.”
The CMA, while undecided on the street closure idea, is considering advocating for other measures to improve pedestrian safety on Cary Street, such as widening the sidewalks, more clearly demarcating crosswalks and reducing the speed limit. Banks said they’re looking at lowering it from 25 to 20 miles per hour.
Closing all of Carytown off to cars permanently isn’t the only option. Some merchants are in favor of doing it on a trial basis or making it an event, in which Carytown could go pedestrian-only for a day or two each month.
Erin Bottcher, who co-owns Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream at 2911 W. Cary Street, said she likes the once-a-month event idea but said it would require signage, informing residents and other hurdles. She’s unsure as to how her business would be affected by a street closure.
“I think maybe it could be positively impacted if we were to make it more of a single-day event,” Bottcher said, noting that many Carytown customers are tourists who drive to town. “I think making it permanently closed, like the whole street, would probably negatively impact because I think people would just not come to Carytown anymore.”
Bottcher said she’s also noticed a desire for more outdoor seating options along Cary Street and would like to see a permanent sit-down space set up for the community.
Banks said she favors another idea she’s heard chatter about – a nearby park. With the I-195 downtown expressway already sunken below-grade, Banks said, she’d like to see the city build a park on top of the highway by Carytown.
“That’s the kind of thing that I think the area really needs, is more green space, a place for people to sit down, something close to Cary Street that could kind of serve the business district as well but also be a neighborhood amenity.”
Banks said the CMA is in conversations with the City of Richmond to get the neighborhood classified as a business improvement district – or a special assessment district, as they’re called in Virginia – that would open up Carytown to more funding for events, marketing, landscaping and other resources.
Venture Richmond, the nonprofit that runs the services for such districts in Richmond, announced last month that Manchester has been added to Richmond’s service district.
Rowan and Dironna Clarke, another public works administrator working on Richmond Connects, said Carytown is far from the only recommendation on their list and isn’t a high-priority item for the city. They said the plan aims to focus on improving equitable transportation for areas that aren’t tended to as often or have fewer resources.
A graphic from Richmond Connects highlighting the idea of reconnecting Jackson Ward.
Most survey respondents also tend to support the survey’s other major recommendations: construction of the city’s section of the Fall Line Trail, which will be a 43-mile, $266 million multi-use trail stretching from Ashland to Petersburg; the Reconnect Jackson Ward project, which would build a bridge deck over I-95 between north and south Jackson Ward; and the microtransit zone for Southside, which would be a small-scale, on-demand rideshare and public transportation service run by GRTC.
Rowan noted that other smaller recommendations have received overwhelming support, such as improving bus stops and sidewalks.
“While not as ‘flashy’ as big projects, these are included to let policy makers know how the public would prioritize funds,” Rowan wrote in an email to BizSense. “It’s pretty clear that bus stop basic infrastructure, adding or improving sidewalks, and improving pedestrian safety are emerging [as] the most important to the everyday person and funding priorities should reflect that once it’s all said and done.”
The Carytown stretch of West Cary Street, with the Byrd Theater rising above it. (Photo by Charlotte Matherly)
A proposal being pondered by the City of Richmond could have Carytown closing off to car traffic in the coming years.
While the idea to make the retail corridor a pedestrian-only thoroughfare has been floated casually for years, it has gained traction of late through an ongoing online survey conducted by the city and resulting social media chatter.
It’s one of 140 ideas being considered by the department of public works for Richmond Connects, a strategic transportation improvement plan in the works.
Other major proposals in the Richmond Connects plan open to public feedback are a microtransit zone for Southside, work on the city’s stretch of the Fall Line Trail and reconnecting Jackson Ward with a bridge deck over I-95.
Kelli Rowan, a consultant for the public works department’s office of equitable transit and mobility, said her team is preparing to release a draft of an action plan this fall based on a combination of the survey results and a policy guide called Path to Equity, adopted by City Council last year. The action plan would then at some point be placed on the council agenda for discussion.
A graphic explaining the timeline of the Richmond Connects process.
Currently, the city is circulating a survey to gather public input on the recommendations, which came from a multitude of sources, including public outreach, public works and other regional planning bodies.
Each proposal would meet an “equity-centered need,” Rowan said. Once the survey wraps up in a few weeks, they’ll narrow down the list by at least half, Rowan said. Ideas will be categorized into different timelines: immediate, 0-5 years and 5-10 years.
As of Aug. 4, Rowan said, the survey had over 6,200 respondents – almost 70 percent of those for the area that includes Carytown. At that time, roughly 83 percent of respondents supported the proposal for a car-free Carytown and 17 percent opposed. Participants also marked it as “most important” when asked to pick their top projects.
Since it’s still early in the process, Rowan said there aren’t set details yet on what a car-free Carytown would look like – such as which streets would be affected, how traffic would be impacted and potential parking solutions. The survey question outlines a nine-block stretch between Thompson Street and Arthur Ashe Boulevard for exclusive pedestrian and bicycle use.
Most Carytown business owners haven’t made up their minds on the issue yet. Kelley Banks, the city liaison for the Carytown Merchants Association (CMA) and co-owner of Merrymaker Fine Paper on Cary Street, said a representative from the city attended CMA’s Wednesday meeting to inform business owners of the proposal.
“I think they are interested and not necessarily just opposed to changes, but they are certainly kind of concerned about some of the more practical issues like parking, like truck delivery,” Banks said of other businesses in the neighborhood.
Parking seems to be the biggest holdup for business owners, who say some customers are already hesitant to visit Carytown for that very reason.
“We already have enough people not wanting to come because they’re worried about where to park,” said Bonnie Patterson, owner of Bonnie’s Boutique at 3009 W. Cary Street. “Now they really won’t want to come.”
The CMA, while undecided on the street closure idea, is considering advocating for other measures to improve pedestrian safety on Cary Street, such as widening the sidewalks, more clearly demarcating crosswalks and reducing the speed limit. Banks said they’re looking at lowering it from 25 to 20 miles per hour.
Closing all of Carytown off to cars permanently isn’t the only option. Some merchants are in favor of doing it on a trial basis or making it an event, in which Carytown could go pedestrian-only for a day or two each month.
Erin Bottcher, who co-owns Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream at 2911 W. Cary Street, said she likes the once-a-month event idea but said it would require signage, informing residents and other hurdles. She’s unsure as to how her business would be affected by a street closure.
“I think maybe it could be positively impacted if we were to make it more of a single-day event,” Bottcher said, noting that many Carytown customers are tourists who drive to town. “I think making it permanently closed, like the whole street, would probably negatively impact because I think people would just not come to Carytown anymore.”
Bottcher said she’s also noticed a desire for more outdoor seating options along Cary Street and would like to see a permanent sit-down space set up for the community.
Banks said she favors another idea she’s heard chatter about – a nearby park. With the I-195 downtown expressway already sunken below-grade, Banks said, she’d like to see the city build a park on top of the highway by Carytown.
“That’s the kind of thing that I think the area really needs, is more green space, a place for people to sit down, something close to Cary Street that could kind of serve the business district as well but also be a neighborhood amenity.”
Banks said the CMA is in conversations with the City of Richmond to get the neighborhood classified as a business improvement district – or a special assessment district, as they’re called in Virginia – that would open up Carytown to more funding for events, marketing, landscaping and other resources.
Venture Richmond, the nonprofit that runs the services for such districts in Richmond, announced last month that Manchester has been added to Richmond’s service district.
Rowan and Dironna Clarke, another public works administrator working on Richmond Connects, said Carytown is far from the only recommendation on their list and isn’t a high-priority item for the city. They said the plan aims to focus on improving equitable transportation for areas that aren’t tended to as often or have fewer resources.
A graphic from Richmond Connects highlighting the idea of reconnecting Jackson Ward.
Most survey respondents also tend to support the survey’s other major recommendations: construction of the city’s section of the Fall Line Trail, which will be a 43-mile, $266 million multi-use trail stretching from Ashland to Petersburg; the Reconnect Jackson Ward project, which would build a bridge deck over I-95 between north and south Jackson Ward; and the microtransit zone for Southside, which would be a small-scale, on-demand rideshare and public transportation service run by GRTC.
Rowan noted that other smaller recommendations have received overwhelming support, such as improving bus stops and sidewalks.
“While not as ‘flashy’ as big projects, these are included to let policy makers know how the public would prioritize funds,” Rowan wrote in an email to BizSense. “It’s pretty clear that bus stop basic infrastructure, adding or improving sidewalks, and improving pedestrian safety are emerging [as] the most important to the everyday person and funding priorities should reflect that once it’s all said and done.”
There’s an old saying that if government discovers something that works, it’ll stop it cold or tax it into a slow death. I lived in Charlottesville when the decision was made to close Main Street downtown for a pedestrian mall. There wasn’t much of anything to close there. The strip was already deserted and the shops were failures. The government was located there but nothing else wanted to be. Good Retail had moved to the suburban mall on Rte 29. This isn’t the case in Carytown. It’s the city’s most successful retail area. It’s the suburban malls that are failing.… Read more »
Wait a minute. Is this the same person who keeps advocating for closing the 14th street bridge in Manchester? What would the difference be between that and closing the street in Carytown?
That’s me! I’d question a proposal to close Hull Street to Commerce as well. Close it at the bridges. That Hull Street corridor is thriving but there’s a major safety issue along Hull as it’s a speedway for trucks and suburban drivers who are not concerned with the community that they pass thru. In contrast, no one wanting to get elsewhere fast uses Cary Street between Thompson and Arthur Ashe. That would be a timely death. They use Grove (now that Floyd is nearly impassable) as a speedway. But if you are in Carytown, you are on West Cary for… Read more »
Well said! Nansemond and Thompson would have to remain open to traffic, otherwise Ellwood and Parkwood would become dead end streets. This would mean only the new buildings at the western end with the chain stores that so many people have been complaining about would be open to traffic and parking while the small independent businesses further east would not. How does this make any sense?
I participated in the survey mentioned in the article. I think a pedestrian Carytown is a really cool concept, and also agree that there are considerations that need to be addressed like parking, deliveries, and business. Ultimately, the decision should be weighted towards what is best for customers to Carytown and the businesses there. I agree it’s not worth breaking something that already works great. That said, parking in Carytown is already a boondoggle, and with the rapid expansion of Richmond (like the 250 unit Grove Ave project) we need to start thinking about how we can build a City… Read more »
I agree with you. This proposal to close off traffic to Carytown is a ridiculous idea that will ensure citizens from Chesterfield, Henrico, and Hanover dramatically reduce their visits to Carytown. Not to mention Richmond residents who do not live a few blocks away. I know they won’t be walking to Carytown for visits. I hope the local Carytown residents can make up the difference in lost tourism dollars that are currently coming into this particular community. Good luck business owners, the city of Richmond is going to create a man made disaster if this proposal is implemented.
Thank you for pointing all this out, and I agree that Grace has unfullfilled potential and your ideal may be a great one. Thank you also for pointing out Charlotteville. Three things about C’ville — 1. There is no other real “downtown location” other than main street and the town has become wealthy so there is now demand for a cool downtown vibe — that mall you mention is now worse than Southpark and the other outdoor mall is a success but still out there. Second: I have read that the only real successes of a ped-only retail street outside… Read more »
That line of logic doesn’t hold up. One new parking garage could replace all the on street parking in Carytown. The same process happened in my hometown Haarlem 50 years ago. At first people were furious and businesses threatened the government. However, after implementing it, shops saw an over 200% increase in traffic. Carytown is so popular that cars are taking up useful space for pedestrians. If you remove the road, business would double.
And so would new businesses, maybe even a grocery store towards the beginning.
The LAST thing Carytown area needs is more grocery stores.
Your anology actually makes the argument for trying this. Cville Mall was dead and gone until they closed it to cars and … voila, up springs a happening, vital center of the city with music venues, movie theater, restaurants, bars, etc. Its an oasis of urban cool amidst a college town. While Carytown isn’t currently dead what’s to say this wouldn’t make it even better, like it did in Cville?
I agree with the person mentioned in the article. Shut it down on select days, Charleston does this and it works well.
On a ordinary Monday-Thursday non summer day, no one is going to go stroll Carytown if it is shut down. It will be a ghost town.
Half of its appeal now on a week day is an easy trip to can-can, or anywhere else as Bruce has said that is currently working.
This city will do nothing but screw this up or make it a casino.
I ran a small business on the main street of an upstate NY town during a time when the street was being converted to a pedestrian mall. There was a drop in business during the construction (even though there was significant effort to keep pedestrian traffic available) but afterward there was a wonderful public space, events scheduled by the downtown business association and the town kept the space lively and attractive. Two parking garages were part of the development and, no doubt, had a positive effect after loosing the on-street parking. There are still successful storefronts on the mall and… Read more »
Sorry you don’t like my personal life experience.
If you close Cary St.whats going to happen with the side streets,Crenshaw,Auburn, Dooley, Sheppard, Colonial that intersect with Cary?If you own a home on say Colonial Ave will you have to back your car out to Parkwood?Good luck going east, you’ll have to maneuver a couple blks.This sounds like something the Richmond City is serious about doing.
This sort of thing happens in a lot of highly livable cities. Just today I got shuffled a block out of my intended path by a one way street in Woodland Heights. It worked out. Walkers, bike riders, and wheelchair users assuming ramps and accessibility can go anywhere they want.
If Cary St thru Carytown is turned into a pedestrian street some who drive now will find alternate ways to get there. I’ve often biked or even walked there from Oregon Hill.
Good point about the one-way streets that intersect Cary. If your car is on Crenshaw or Shepherd, you’re staying put that day. There’s a deck on Crenshaw too…I think the entrance only faces the street for part of it. Talk about a bottleneck.
Don’t let the malcontents get you down — they are probably upset you mentioned parking garages — that is not how they think “equity” happens — they think forcing everyone to take the bus is what is good for America!
After living in Europe twice, I enjoy pedestrian zones. The zones are open to delivery trucks and residents who can use their cars, regulations/hours vary from town to town and city to city. I enjoy Cape May, NJ over the Outer Banks because of their pedestrian zone filled with shops, a small movie theater,…because I can park and then walk around instead of driving or having to walk along the busy roads to get somewhere. Santa Barbara, CA has 5 parking garages, aesthetically pleasing and landscaped, that provide 75 minutes of free parking, then $3.00 hourly charges begin. The main… Read more »
Yeah, me too, and I would say that if one was planning a new town or city, a public square would be great — and in tourist desinations like Cape May it is a great thing.
But it is also important to remember that we are an energy rich nation, and not Europe.
Knoxville has a similar are that is very successful
Can I assume you are referring to State street in Ithaca NY, which, Like Charlottesville’s Main Street, also serves as the City as its government center? It’s cited by planners as one of three best examples of this kind of development nationwide. The third is Boulder, CO which also serves the City government. One full block of Boulder’s pedestrian mall comprises of government offices. Our City and State governments are three miles east of Carytown, so their parking decks do nothing to resolve weekend suburbanite and tourist traffic issues. Those three developments were a result of retail businesses deserting their… Read more »
There are no government offices on the State Street Mall. When the mall was being built almost all storefronts were occupied and doing well. There was some concerns that a suburban mall – Pyramid Mall – would take business away from downtown but there was lots of loyalty to local businesses, and the creation of a well planned schedule of community events (even in the winter!) kept people coming.
Wait! You are talking Syracuse? In Ithaca, they had a GREAT parking garage that was free, and Ithaca is a very special place — tiny, lots of residents who don’t have cars but often have money (students) and is a major tourist destination for its size — lots of great restaurants for a small town — and people drive from ALL OVER to Ithaca for both the vibe and the trails. Syracuse had a surprisingly decent downtown going on (with the help of some underratedly cool blocks of fine architecture) even when I worked there circa 2001 — was there… Read more »
Possibly Schenectady, but most likely Ithaca.
For Carytown, I would make it one large extra wide center lane with “nose-in” angle parking on both sides of the street. Have delivery spaces available on each block for delivery drivers – or deliveries must deliver from the rear or side streets – or have deliveries scheduled before 10 a.m. or after 6? OR Just close off the street to Pedestrian only on Saturday and Sunday. – I guess they would just install auto timer gates at each intersection? If you close Cary without adding more parking garages, then the surrounding housing neighborhoods will be inundated with street parking… Read more »
Parking in front of houses should be reserved for residents only.
You think public space should be restricted to private use?
I was just down in Virginia beach and I am one of the undesirables who parks my minivan DEEP into the residential areas and rides my bike to the boardwalk. They have new signs everywhere that say that if you can park BUT if you are caught there after 6pm you can expect to get towed, I think this is a good compromise — Richmond has not yet reached the status of one of the bigger cities where people don’t want to live because parking is part of an Oddesy of Hassle, but it is getting there. It can be… Read more »
Agreed, I can only imagine living anywhere without a driveway that is still car dependent.
I know Williamsburg near the W&M Campus actually has parking decals for the streets nearby so locals don’t get their spots taken by tourists and out-of-towners. I feel like a system like that would help. Maybe even offer extra decals for residents to give to visitors?
That would a rearview mirror hang-y thing, but yes.
Luckily Richmond generally has all those alleys — like a little chicago. They could improve the alleys so that a lot of delivery could flow down that way, or, as someone mentioned, they could allow delivery on the street — but that could create a terrorism/nutcase hazzard, since they won’t be able to put up ballards to protect the pedestirians. Staunton has Beverley St. closed on the weekend with removable ballards — that works well — I think Staunton gets a lot of Weekend tourism and they spent a lot of money putting in a first class parking garage about… Read more »
Nobody has yet to answer a simple question.What good has the mayor of the City of Richmond done that benefits the city.
That is because it is an impossible question for them to answer and the ones who don’t want you to ask this question are defensive.
AKA: Bizsense has bots that downvote you for independent thought.
Interesting idea I like it! It solves some issues, parking increase/convenience for shopper, pedestrian safety as people aren’t swerving lanes, increase in safety crossings could happen, one lane nose in would make it easier for those they can’t/won’t parallel park, slows traffic a little bit but we are talking from nanesmond to just past the byrd theater (safer for pedestrians), retailers still get drive-by looks/shoppers, certainly not perfect but probably the best solution This idea plus wider beautified sidewalks, and a carytown association that holds all the stores accountable for keeping up the appearance of there storefronts, this could be… Read more »
Mayor is going after Carytown now.What good has this guy done for the city?
Surprising there is not much outrage from the business community regarding Stoney’s lack of leadership in the city.
Most businessmen I have known don’t like to publicly express political opinions publically, esp regarding local matters. Politicians are notoriously vindictive and so are activist personalities.
He has obviously done enough for the city to get re-elected………? I can’t vote him out, I can just smdh.
I’m not anti-Stoney by any means. He’s far better than his two predecessors. But he was Re-elected with 32% of the vote and that’s not a good system for government.
Not a high bar regarding the last guy, but what makes Stoney better than him? He does seem to TALK more….
Just the most development and growth this city has ever seen. No biggie.
This has nothing to do with city hall.
I do not support closing down Cary St full time because Carytown is already vibrant as is. However, I do support widening the sidewalks, adding shade trees, adding parking infrastructure, and adding a bus circulator to connect Carytown, The Fan, Downtown, and Shockoe Bottom (Main/Ellwood/Cary only).
So you’re for keeping the road there, but you’re also for removing on-street parking? I mean, there’s no other way to widen the sidewalks. Though, all the on-street parking could be replaced by a parking garage pretty easily.
Spot on Bruce. Equity is an appropriate consideration in formulating public policy. It should not however, be the basis for a decision with such profound potential economic effects for hundreds of businesses. Changing customer spending habits is not like flipping a switch. If people stop visiting Carytown because of this policy, it could never recover. Economic policy needs to supported by data and input from stakeholders. The cited survey was 70% weighted from Carytown area residents. No surprise that folks who live a block or two away are favorably inclined on this question-though I’m not sure they are thinking through… Read more »
The survey was ridiculous. Which do we need more: Car-free Carytown or more bike lanes? Do you support Equity: Yes, or yes?
I’m just curious, did the survey define equity regarding a car free Carytown? What does that mean?
I am glad you asked this question.
I support more bike lanes — real, protected ones.
Oddly, the people who most demand “equity” tend to oppose bike infrastructure and other things that will benefit EVERYONE.
What does more bike lanes have to do with equity? It’s just a cheaper and a more efficient way to get around. Especially if there are protected bike lanes.
Well, people who can’t afford cars can bike …. simple. That was once me.
Is it possible for the City to be more stupid. I’m almost afraid of the answer! How many commuters come down Cary to go downtown on a daily basis? My guess is more than a handful!
This is a good point that I had not thought of.
Cary is a main road for a great length — shunting traffic off of it could cause all sorts of unintended consequences like these brands of politicians are always famous for.
It makes more sense to shut down a portion of Grace St downtown to help bring life back to that corridor. All those beautiful old empty storefronts going to waste. Give an area for folks visiting from out of town and staying in all the hotels to walk to. Give all the folks moving down there a place to hang out. Carytown is fine.
Yes! Grace between 5th and 1st is straight-up sad looking. It’s already a mini dining destination. Imagine what adding a larger outdoor plaza could do for it. Plus, there’s a built in audience with the nearby convention center and Dominion Energy Center, and the Pulse is a block away. It makes waaaaay more sense.
I think this is a great idea. Yes, the bldgs are beautiful there — much moreso than the average Carytown one (there are jewels in Carytown — the Art Deco Stripmall is rather unique in my travels, and of course the Byrd.
I will add one more reason why this is a great idea: not much traffic relatively on Grace.
And another — it would be an oasis from the hard, bus-y urbanishness of Broad.
Online surveys are not verified statistical sampling. Leave the decision to Carytown business owners. Richmond government has a larger problem of attempting to replicate the successes of other municipalities instead of developing solutions that address the city’s needs and issues. “You’ll never get ahead by following the pack.”
Wouldn’t equity have multiple stakeholders in the decision & not just the Carytown business owners?
OMG
Over 115k people will magically find parking this weekend for the Carytown Watermelon Festival. Not because they want watermelon. They can buy a watermelon at their local grocer. They are going to walk around, eat, catch live music, and support small vendors. They don’t have to wait to cross the street or do a light jog to get across. As someone opening a business just a bit further down W Cary, this is exciting. Test it a few times a month and watch the difference. Add green space and seating. Handicap parking on side streets. This can work for all… Read more »
Yeah, got any stock tips???
I used to be against this idea but now, especially with Uber/Lyft, I tend to avoid Carytown as the traffic on W. Cary Street is atrocious and it is out of reasonable reach to the Pulse line. The volume is less of an issue but the flow is terrible due to the chaotic nature of vehicles constantly being stopped, due to someone blocking one or both lanes, whether it be a ride-share, delivery truck, or county-folk taking all day to parallel park. In the evening there is guaranteed to be someone driving the wrong way. At the very least, the… Read more »
Sounds like this is from someone who ideologically anti-car in general.
Clearly I was using the perspective of a driver and I own multiple cars, so no, not really anti-car. I much rather use them for long distance, car shows, or leisure drives rather than be solely reliant on them for local transportation.
Apologies.
Interesting person you are.
To defend the “Country folk”, I am an excellent parallel parker (from NYS) and Carytown is a BIT hard to parallel park on. I rarely try unless it is an off-peak time.
Arguing for slightly less car traffic in cities made for people is not being “anti-car”. It’s being pro-people.
Platitude. Still, less traffic would be a good thing if it could be accomplished in a way that didn’t restrict PEOPLE from using the transportation of their choice.
you sound like someone who hasn’t spent much time in Carytown. Maybe the best argument for closing it off is to end Cary St’s use as an artery through Carytown to downtown.
When I lived on Davis and Main Craig I used to run up and down Cary in the evening as part of my loop. I remember when the frou frou Vietnamese Restaurant was a run-down laundromat. We have friends who live on one of Carytown’s cross streets that have been there since the 1990s when the house they fixed up had broken windows, etc — I spoke to them last night — they are against this plan. Main argument they have is the same as Bruce’s above: Carytown works and is a great success RIGHT NOW, why risk messing it… Read more »
Carytown is great as is – none of this makes sense. There are plenty of ways to avoid that traffic during peak times & frankly, it isn’t that bad compared to other places. Not a risk worth taking for a gem & highly successful strip of RVA
For anyone who thinks this is a great idea, please drive over to the Watermelon Festival this weekend. I biked down Floyd last year the day of and traffic was backed up bumper to bumper from Nansemond to the Boulevard. Dicey for biking on a road designated for biking – so much for equity. Granted this was an event, but the cars sitting gave an idea of how bad this could be for the neighborhood, bikers and pedestrians. I think improvements could happen around and to sidewalks but agree with Bruce…Carytown is not broken. Leave it alone.
Yeah, I used to DREAD driving when they would shut down Lark St in Albany for the Tulip fest – when I was an adolescent I loved those things, but as a worker who lived downtown and drove I hated navigating around them.
Its a giant festival where 100K people come in for it – of course the traffic is bad. Just like the folk fest downtown, easter on paarade does to the streets around Monument, like the greek fest does to traffic at Malvern, etc
All they want is their little green spaces and control your life.They could care less about the residents that actually live in the area.
I think they should run expariments on this by closing Cary Street on Fridays and Saturdays. Such as the road gets closed to traffic at 12.00noon on Friday and reopens to cars at 10.00PM on Sunday. That way they could study the effects and not do to much damage to the business commuting crowd on the weekdays. But I do think Cary Town has a car infestation in that it’s bumper to bumper traffic with cars covering 70% of the space down there. Also I have seen pedestrian malls in 10 different places in Europe and even Japan and they… Read more »
Cary street is a busy through street, not an isolated “mall” . It is not unthinkable that 83% of people that responded to surveys are just ‘goofy’. These days quiet possible. Leave RVA alone; if you don’t like it why did you move here.
Mark from NYC
There is this silly thing called weather of the four seasons. It can be uncomfortable braving the elements at times. I gotta walk how many blocks? Carry my bags how far? Carytown could well be empty on bad weather days.
It’s Richmond. I 64 is empty on bad weather days.
Really? There could be a tornado going down Cary St. and traffic on I-64 would still be humming. If the weather is so bad that I-64 is empty then I would have to think Cary St. would suffer the same fate.
I’m not sure what Chris is talking about, but I disagree that Richmond has lots of horrible weather — it’s not Kansas City, nor is it Syracuse or Atlanta.
Richmond is mild — it’s why so many people who moved to the deep south from the north move half the way back to NC-VA-MD.
If you don’t like walking, don’t move to a city. Florida is right there, go for it.
I enjoy walking. Walked the streets of Richmond for many years. My comment is about the general public patronizing the shops at Carytown. If it’s raining and 35 degrees or a hazy hot and humid 95 degrees, I don’t think most people would choose to walk as they would just wait for better weather conditions.
Nowadays I walk the golf course instead of back then when I walked the streets of Richmond.
Why Florida? DRIVING is more Atlanta or Houston than Miami.
One of the wonderful things about Richmond is that it is still very car friendly.
Obviously some people don’t LIKE “Car friendly”
Car friendly is people friendly.
The most effective way to improve pedestrian safety on Cary Street without reducing access to businesses is to convert the street to two-way travel. One of the most dangerous circumstances for pedestrians is a vehicle changing lanes to pass a slower or stopped vehicle, especially if the stopped vehicle is at a crosswalk.
This is the correct answer. By converting Cary Street to two way traffic, Main/Ellwood would also be two way which would slow down traffic which will be safer for everyone. If you want to get downtown quickly, use the expressway.
This may just be a great idea.
Perhaps that slow or stopped vehicle would cause a long line of cars to be backed up Cary St. with no way to pass into oncoming traffic. It would also cause drivers to circle blocks to park in a space on the other side of the street.
Me personally, I feel like looking one-way down the street is easier then worrying about both ways. Don’t know why people think two-way is safer.
That is sort of true in ONE way when crossing the street, but in another way it is not because two way traffic slows down the traffic.
They make multilane one way things when they want them to be thoroughfares and the reason is that they WANT traffic to SPEED through.
Making it two way would make locals who want just go through Carytown consider rerouting around Carytown. That would likely cause some problems that would need to be solved — where will this through traffic be shunted to?
Two observations from a long-time Richmonder. 1) Around 2 decades ago, I spent several years running a bar in Shockoe Bottom. Parking was then, as now, a constant issue, but it didn’t stop people from flooding Shockoe Bottom each weekend. 2) I play music with a friend who lives on one of the cross streets at the heart of Carytown – between Elwood & Floyd. I’m at his house every weekend, and parking near his house is rarely an issue. Folks who want to go to the Byrd want to park in front of the Byrd, and folks that want… Read more »
Chris I upvoted this because you actually explain yourself AND offer some enticing things to consider. I also rarely park directly on Cary (mostly because somebody else already HAS) but parking could get BAD on those adjacent streets! The answer would have to be a LARGE parking garage — tiny Ithaca has a big free one, and Charlottesville has a very big one. But you are correct IF done correctly, and non-ideologically and not half-assed either, it COULD be great AND be a benefit to all the greater Carytown property owners. it is quite understandable that there are people who… Read more »
I am at least glad to see that the Mayor is smarter and a better city planner than this comment section!
Riiiight….
Prove it. Show me what he has gotten done. FIrst, get the SMALL things right THEN people might trust your big plans….
So you support someone who hates the average American…..
*Facepalm*