Richmond launches new street safety office after 6 pedestrian deaths
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Richmond is launching a Department of Transportation to centralize ownership of street safety as officials confront growing resident frustration over back-to-back pedestrian deaths.
What they're saying: "We cannot treat traffic deaths as normal," Mayor Avula said when announcing the initiative on Thursday, noting that thousands of VCU students return Monday for spring semester.
- "And we cannot accept that losing your life while walking, crossing the street or heading to a bus stop is just part of living in a city."
State of play: Drivers have killed six people walking in Richmond in the last three weeks, a frequency Avula called "terrifying."
- The department, housed within Public Works and led by city transportation engineer Andy Boenau, is meant to anchor the city's main prevention strategy: Redesign streets to make them less deadly.
- The move will consolidate traffic operations, safety projects, and crash analysis — work currently spread across multiple agencies.
- It also formally creates a single point of accountability for preventing traffic-related deaths in the city.
What else the city is doing, per Avula:
Fast tracking safety projects
Avula ordered the "immediate deployment" of transportation funding to move outside the usual multi-year capital project schedule.
- The money will go toward 20 miles of road changes to add bus and bike lanes, including on Route One and Hull Street, and increasing crosswalk parking enforcement.
- It'll also help add 14 more pedestrian beacons, left-turn hardening at 80 intersections and 40 new speed tables, all in place by July.
More safety cameras
Four of the 10 cameras targeting drivers who run red lights will go live by the end of the month.
- The city announced the expanded camera program at 10 intersections in September. Half will be in South Richmond.
Road safety assessment of East Broad Street
From First to 14th streets, a team of engineers, planning and public health experts, City Council members and more will identify short-and-long-term fixes to safety on Broad.
- This is directly tied to longtime Valentine Museum director Bill Martin, who a driver killed near there last month.
Launching a PSA campaign
This will include community meetings starting next Wednesday, Jan. 14 and a "#LookBothWaysTwice" initiative throughout the city.
- DPW director Bobby Vincent said it's so everybody realizes "that they're sharing the road together, motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians alike."