A Pulse bus at the rapid-transit line’s Arts District stop. Henrico recently acquired a property intended to be redeveloped as the new western terminus of the Pulse. (BizSense file images)
A joint Henrico-GRTC project to extend rapid-transit service deeper into the county has taken another step forward.
Henrico recently paid $1.3 million to acquire a small retail strip at West Broad Street and North Parham Road, which is planned to be redeveloped into the new western terminus of the Pulse line.
The 9,000-square-foot retail strip that’s currently on the property is slated to be demolished to make way for the new facility.
The 1-acre property at 3400 Old Parham Road would be a bus transfer point and have shelters and restrooms and is envisioned as the future endpoint of an extended western section of the Pulse line, which has its current terminus nearly five miles away at Willow Lawn.
A cost estimate for the construction of the new terminus has not been determined. The project is expected to be funded through local, state and federal money.
The extended Pulse line is currently planned to feature eight new stations and dedicated bus lanes along West Broad Street, as well as a dedicated park-and-ride. The extension project is currently underway on an environmental review that’s expected to wrap up this summer. The county and GRTC are kicking off a review of where to put new bus stops, with an eye toward integrating them with existing and future infrastructure.
“We have a meeting next week to get together and develop a timeline, because there are other projects that are along that corridor and we want to make sure that we’re not putting in stuff where somebody’s going to tear them up and put in sidewalks,” GRTC Director of Planning Frank Adarkwa said.
GRTC is considering new Pulse stops around Broad Street’s intersections with Hungary Spring Road, Glenside Drive, Forest Avenue and Libbie Avenue, and other locations, Adarkwa said.
A map of the proposed western extension of the Pulse line. (Courtesy GRTC)
Also to be determined is where the station’s park-and-ride facility would be located. Adarkwa said GRTC is on the hunt for nearby properties to serve as parking for the facility, where people could drop off their cars in the county and then hitch a ride on the bus into town.
“We want a consultant to conduct a parking utilization assessment to see what those parking spaces along the corridors look like. And if there are potential places, we will talk to the property owners and then sign a lease with them,” he said.
GRTC had previously said there could be room for parking on the newly acquired Parham Road property.
Henrico Public Utilities Director Terrell Hughes, while noting that the Parham site is a small property, said public parking is being considered there particularly in light of parking challenges at the current Willow Lawn Pulse terminus.
“We’re trying to see how much parking you can fit in there,” Hughes said. “One of the challenges we’ve had at Willow Lawn is (the lack of) a dedicated parking lot for transit.”
A concept plan for the proposed western terminus of the Pulse rapid-transit line.
Henrico bought the Parham site in a deal that was recorded in mid-April. The property is currently home to Parham Laundry Center and other businesses. Hughes said the county would work with the tenants to plot their eventual exits from the property.
“The county would like to make sure those businesses are given an opportunity to succeed and relocate and that’s something we’ll be working through,” he said.
The county’s board of supervisors voted to approve the purchase of the site in August. The deal didn’t include the neighboring Tropical Smoothie at 8207 W. Broad. St., which had previously been part of the same parcel as the retail strip but was split off.
GRTC currently anticipates opening the western extension of the Pulse in 2029. The transit agency is jointly owned by Chesterfield and Richmond, while Henrico has representatives on its governing board of directors.
A community meeting to discuss the Pulse extension project has been set for 5-7 p.m. May 19 at the Libbie Mill Library.
The Parham Laundry Center at 3400 N. Parham Road.
Plans for the new terminus come as GRTC receives the first batch of bigger buses to operate on the Pulse route.
The transit agency last month received the last of four 60-foot-long articulated buses ordered to expand the passenger capacity of the Pulse line, GRTC spokeswoman Ashley Potter said.
The new buses are expected to be operational in July. They’re 20 feet longer and have a larger passenger capacity than the buses currently used on the Pulse. The vehicles are called articulated buses because they have an accordion-like joint in the middle that helps the long vehicles make turns.
GRTC bought the buses for $1.2 million each. The buses were made by Canada-based manufacturer New Flyer. GRTC plans to eventually have 12 articulated buses on the Pulse line, and expects to have purchased and received them by late 2025 or early 2026.
GRTC renovated the Pulse stops so the larger buses would be able to fit in the stations. The construction project wrapped up in March.
The new buses are slated to hit the road about seven years after GRTC opened the Pulse, which runs from Rocketts Landing in Richmond to Willow Lawn in Henrico, in June 2018. GRTC is also in the early stages of planning a north-south Pulse line.
A Pulse bus at the rapid-transit line’s Arts District stop. Henrico recently acquired a property intended to be redeveloped as the new western terminus of the Pulse. (BizSense file images)
A joint Henrico-GRTC project to extend rapid-transit service deeper into the county has taken another step forward.
Henrico recently paid $1.3 million to acquire a small retail strip at West Broad Street and North Parham Road, which is planned to be redeveloped into the new western terminus of the Pulse line.
The 9,000-square-foot retail strip that’s currently on the property is slated to be demolished to make way for the new facility.
The 1-acre property at 3400 Old Parham Road would be a bus transfer point and have shelters and restrooms and is envisioned as the future endpoint of an extended western section of the Pulse line, which has its current terminus nearly five miles away at Willow Lawn.
A cost estimate for the construction of the new terminus has not been determined. The project is expected to be funded through local, state and federal money.
The extended Pulse line is currently planned to feature eight new stations and dedicated bus lanes along West Broad Street, as well as a dedicated park-and-ride. The extension project is currently underway on an environmental review that’s expected to wrap up this summer. The county and GRTC are kicking off a review of where to put new bus stops, with an eye toward integrating them with existing and future infrastructure.
“We have a meeting next week to get together and develop a timeline, because there are other projects that are along that corridor and we want to make sure that we’re not putting in stuff where somebody’s going to tear them up and put in sidewalks,” GRTC Director of Planning Frank Adarkwa said.
GRTC is considering new Pulse stops around Broad Street’s intersections with Hungary Spring Road, Glenside Drive, Forest Avenue and Libbie Avenue, and other locations, Adarkwa said.
A map of the proposed western extension of the Pulse line. (Courtesy GRTC)
Also to be determined is where the station’s park-and-ride facility would be located. Adarkwa said GRTC is on the hunt for nearby properties to serve as parking for the facility, where people could drop off their cars in the county and then hitch a ride on the bus into town.
“We want a consultant to conduct a parking utilization assessment to see what those parking spaces along the corridors look like. And if there are potential places, we will talk to the property owners and then sign a lease with them,” he said.
GRTC had previously said there could be room for parking on the newly acquired Parham Road property.
Henrico Public Utilities Director Terrell Hughes, while noting that the Parham site is a small property, said public parking is being considered there particularly in light of parking challenges at the current Willow Lawn Pulse terminus.
“We’re trying to see how much parking you can fit in there,” Hughes said. “One of the challenges we’ve had at Willow Lawn is (the lack of) a dedicated parking lot for transit.”
A concept plan for the proposed western terminus of the Pulse rapid-transit line.
Henrico bought the Parham site in a deal that was recorded in mid-April. The property is currently home to Parham Laundry Center and other businesses. Hughes said the county would work with the tenants to plot their eventual exits from the property.
“The county would like to make sure those businesses are given an opportunity to succeed and relocate and that’s something we’ll be working through,” he said.
The county’s board of supervisors voted to approve the purchase of the site in August. The deal didn’t include the neighboring Tropical Smoothie at 8207 W. Broad. St., which had previously been part of the same parcel as the retail strip but was split off.
GRTC currently anticipates opening the western extension of the Pulse in 2029. The transit agency is jointly owned by Chesterfield and Richmond, while Henrico has representatives on its governing board of directors.
A community meeting to discuss the Pulse extension project has been set for 5-7 p.m. May 19 at the Libbie Mill Library.
The Parham Laundry Center at 3400 N. Parham Road.
Plans for the new terminus come as GRTC receives the first batch of bigger buses to operate on the Pulse route.
The transit agency last month received the last of four 60-foot-long articulated buses ordered to expand the passenger capacity of the Pulse line, GRTC spokeswoman Ashley Potter said.
The new buses are expected to be operational in July. They’re 20 feet longer and have a larger passenger capacity than the buses currently used on the Pulse. The vehicles are called articulated buses because they have an accordion-like joint in the middle that helps the long vehicles make turns.
GRTC bought the buses for $1.2 million each. The buses were made by Canada-based manufacturer New Flyer. GRTC plans to eventually have 12 articulated buses on the Pulse line, and expects to have purchased and received them by late 2025 or early 2026.
GRTC renovated the Pulse stops so the larger buses would be able to fit in the stations. The construction project wrapped up in March.
The new buses are slated to hit the road about seven years after GRTC opened the Pulse, which runs from Rocketts Landing in Richmond to Willow Lawn in Henrico, in June 2018. GRTC is also in the early stages of planning a north-south Pulse line.
Shall we call this a temporary terminus? Isn’t it clear that development along West Broad looks like a barbell with the weights at Scott’s Addition on one end and the Short Pump Mall on the other? It’s not like we have to wait and see, is it? There are already more than 20,000 jobs at Innsbrook and 6 Million sf of retail awaiting traffic relief at the true western terminus. Let’s do the planning now.
Bruce; do you really think people in Short Pump want people from downtown?
Totally agree that it should extend further west. I would not stop at Short Pump Town Center but rather bring it all the way to Bon Secours Pkwy where the townhouses and Condos could be served. Good area to find a place for car park as well.
It would be better if Henrico could aquire the whole triangle for the terminus. To me, it doesn’t look like enough real estate for what they have in mind.
That bank building is abandoned anyways last I saw.
Henrico’s partnership with GRTC to improve transit has really come a long way. I’m really glad that the success of the Pulse is being brought to more communities
I do wonder what extending the Pulse lanes that far west will do to traffic in the area. Pulse worked out far better in the city than I had thought it would, but Broad St is much more vital in that part of Henrico, so I wonder how reducing lanes will work.
I’m not against the pulse- but as someone who lived/worked in that section of Broad St, it was a major impact to businesses to lose all of the parking.
There’s no plan to build bus-only lanes beyond what exists today, which is a 2.5 mile section from Thompson St. in the west to 1st St. in the east.
There indeed are plans to continue the bus-only lanes further west as a 50% dedicated bus-only lane requirement is a federal standard set by the FTA to define fixed guideway BRT systems. And that classification is key in consideration for projects aiming to secure federal funding
It would REALLY be great if they had an eye toward making those lanes an electric train/trolley line instead of bus in the future.
The difference between a bus stuck in traffic and a trolley or tram stuck in traffic? The latter costs about five times more.
Realistically, implementing a trolley or light rail system in Richmond would be prohibitively expensive. We’re talking multiple billions of dollars, extensive eminent domain proceedings, a complete overhaul of Broad Street, closure of numerous driveways, and potential reconstruction of existing shopping centers.
Would such a system be beneficial? Absolutely. But considering the current trajectory of infrastructure projects and lack of ambition around public services in our country, state, and city, undertaking something of this magnitude seems unlikely.
Derek: The original Pulse line was initially going to be electric until a Dominion Power engineer enlightened the committee that I was on and indicated that the cost would be astronomical based on what was below ground. The same would hold true for any extensions of the Pulse. The location of a transfer center, in my opinion, is a good start for the expansion and Bruce makes a good point that it needs to extend to Short Pump. Finally, city residents that want jobs should be welcome in Short Pump. The extension of the Pulse would provide opportunities that they… Read more »
The last time I believe I heard it still took 40-45 minutes to travel the Pulse the 7 miles from Rocketts Landing to Willow Lawn. That doesn’t include the wait time for the next bus or the time getting from your home or business to the next bus stop. Assuming it would be at least a similar time to get all the way to Short Pump is it realistic that people would take the bus on a commute that is 1.5 hours door to door each way, every day for what amounts to a 10 to 12 mile drive?
Maybe they can add a restroom on the bus and wifi. I am not the only person that thinks free ridership is a joke.
Hopefully some significant pedestrian improvements will be coming to the Broad and Parham intersection. Otherwise we will see frequent pedestrian deaths there.
I would really like to see a North / South line that would connect Lewis Ginter and Maymont. Then folks could also go to the Ballpark and Carytown.