After crashes, Henrico neighbors pushed for a roundabout
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What the roundabout looks like today, visible pedestrian crossings and all. Photo: Sabrina Moreno/Axios
Claire Dee learned to recognize the sound from inside her Henrico home. A screech of tires. A bang.
- So her routine was to grab her phone, sometimes a blanket or water and head toward the Twin Hickory Drive intersection to help.
Why it matters: Those crashes pushed Dee and neighbor Janna Kiseeva to document wrecks and collect about 350 signatures calling on Henrico to make the intersection safer, spurring the county to install a permanent roundabout last year.
The big picture: That neighborhood fix is part of a larger shift in how the county is trying to make roads safer.
- The county has installed 23 roundabouts since 2021 and now considers them its "primary design" for intersection improvement projects.
Catch up quick: The intersection of Twin Hickory and Hickory Bend Drive — within a half-mile of a preschool, an elementary school and Deep Run High — had become a source of anxiety for neighbors, especially during school pickup and drop-off.
- Kiseeva, who could also hear crashes from her home, started digging into crash databases after wondering why the danger neighbors witnessed wasn’t reflected in official numbers.
- She launched a petition in early 2024, citing 13 crashes over the previous couple of years — six in 2023 — and close calls residents said weren’t captured in official stats.
- She also asked neighbors to become record keepers: Photograph crashes. Note the date and time. If traffic looks particularly bad, document that, too.
Caveat: Henrico typically relies on Virginia DMV data, Public Works director Terrell Hughes tells Axios. Those records, which exclude crashes involving less than $2,500 in damage, can lag by several months.
Zoom in: The campaign moved quickly. By March 2024, residents were meeting with county officials. By June, a temporary roundabout was in place.
- Hughes says it “proved to be successful,” and Henrico made the roundabout permanent in May 2025.
- Henrico did not provide Axios with before-and-after crash figures for the intersection.
Yes, but: Hughes says Henrico is generally seeing fewer serious and injury crashes at its roundabouts, but most are too new for a full evaluation.
- At Darbytown and Turner roads, an intersection that previously saw multiple serious-injury crashes hasn't had an injury crash in the nearly three years since a roundabout was installed, Hughes tells Axios.
Zoom out: Henrico isn't done. Four more roundabouts are underway, with at least eight others funded or slated for construction — including ones from the West End to Eastern Henrico along Cox, Williamsburg and Darbytown roads and Mayland Drive.
The bottom line: For Dee, the result is simple: She can make a left turn during the morning school rush.
- Before the roundabout, she says, “I’d have been taking my life in my hands.”
This feature is part of our Under-the-Radar Richmonders series, which spotlights local residents who do impactful work but fly "under the radar."
You can nominate people for future features here or by emailing [email protected].