Driving in Richmond gets more expensive this weekend
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Driving around Richmond will get more expensive starting this weekend.
Why it matters: If you're a red light-runner or non-E-ZPass toll road user, your grace periods are up.
Driving the news: All-electronic tolling on Powhite Parkway, the Downtown Expressway and the Boulevard Bridge starts Saturday, Feb. 28, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced this week
- That means drivers without an E-ZPass using those roads (or the ramps to access them) will be automatically charged via pay-by-plate (a camera will take their picture and they'll be mailed a bill).
- And the bill they'll receive will be double the current cash rate for all of the tolls, as Axios reported earlier this month.
- For example: On Powhite Parkway and the Downtown Expressway, the current $1 cash tolls will cost non-E-ZPass users $2 for pay-by-plate.
Caveat: The Downtown Expressway (and its ramps) will only be no-cash at night. Cash and coin will still be accepted there from 6:30am–9pm until 2027.
Meanwhile, the 30-day warning period for two of the city's first four red light cameras — 25th Street at Main Street and Belvidere Street at Cary Street — ends March 8.
- The warning period for other two — Chamberlayne Avenue at Brookland Park Boulevard and Chamberlayne Avenue at Laburnum Avenue — began Feb. 23 and will end on March 25.
- That means drivers who run a red light on those intersections can expect a $50 citation in the mail.
What's next: Six more red light cameras are in the works for Richmond, most of which are in South Richmond.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the red light cameras' 30-day warning period ends, for two of the sites, on March 8, and for the other two on March 25 (not on March 1 for all).