First Look: Proposed Station Locations for the New Pulse Line
Welcome to What’s Next, Richmond (WNR). This week, we dive into the proposed station locations and route of the new North South BRT Line based on newly released documents
Last week the GRTC, Richmond’s local transit agency, released a collection of renderings for the North-South Bus Rapid Transit line that is planned to begin construction later this decade. Though they are only a “first draft” on what the line will be, these documents provide important hints to questions that have been lingering about the new system such as “Where will the Station locations be?” and “What route will the line follow downtown?”
Combing through these documents allows us to both see where the stations could be located, and to get a first look at the downtown route under consideration. The implications of this are beyond those of just prospective riders because of how the city plans to use up-zoning and grants to increase vertical growth, housing density, and services along the new bus route. In many ways knowing these station locations serves to help predict the future of development over the next decade in certain parts of the city.
Future BRT Stations Under Consideration
A first look at the station locations proposed for the first phase of the new N-S BRT line
The released documents are a series of massive renderings that show both the current conditions along the BRT route as well as how they will be modified over the entire span of the project.
You can scroll through them at your own pace here. Alternatively, I’ve reviewed all of them and created a custom google map that shows the location of each station according to the documents, which some readers may find less tedious to consume. You can also click on each station to see if it is part of the curb running or median running bus lane scenario.
For Richmonders who don’t intend to use the BRT system, the station locations serve to indicate where new development will occur in the city. During the August 8th meeting of the GRTC Development Committee they discussed a $750,000 grant towards Transit Oriented Development along the new BRT line.
The goal of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is essentially to ensure that higher density housing and accompanying services are built along areas where people can easily access the transit system. This helps incentivize residents to use the bus line, and helps create destination services (think groceries, coffee shops, etc) that are easily accessible for residents on other parts of the line.
This and future grants will combine with the City’s existing plans to up-zone areas along major corridors summarized on the Richmond 300 Future Land Use map.
Due to these city initiatives and incoming subsidies we can expect to see faster development in areas where the stations are built.
The latest on the Downtown Alignment for the BRT line
A brief summary of the proposed alignment through Downtown Richmond
Before this point, all previous renderings have shown a dotted line for the Downtown corridor, indicating that they have not yet formally decided on a specific routing for this section of the City.
The new documents indicate that they are currently leaning towards routing down Leigh Street after Chamberlayne until reaching the downtown transfer station, where it will turn South until it catches the previously declared alignment through the Southside of Richmond.
This alignment provides the advantage of connecting more directly into the downtown transfer station, where riders can connect into local bus lines traveling in every direction. GRTC riders on the existing Pulse line have to walk three blocks from the Government Center Westbound Station in order to access the transfer center.
The above rendering also includes the modifications planned for Leigh Street under the upcoming roadway improvement covered in a previous article (shown in blue).
Readers should note that the transfer center stations are centered around the temporary transfer center. By the time the NS BRT route is completed the GRTC permanent transfer center will be located one block to the east on the site of the recently demolished Public Safety building.
A major disadvantage of this downtown routing is that it does not provide any overlap with stations on the existing East-West Pulse route, which means transferring between the two lines will be less seamless.
Curb Running vs. Median Running Scenarios
An explanation of the different types of BRT lanes found in the current Pulse system, and how they impact the plan on the new N-S BRT line
A major factor in designing the BRT system is where the bus lanes will be located relative to the existing travel lanes for cars. The current Pulse system is a mix of curb running lanes downtown as well as median lanes in the region between Arts District and Scott’s Addition.
There are also sections of the existing Pulse system that do not have designated bus lanes, such as in Shockoe Bottom or west of Scott’s Addition.
The draft plans for the new North-South BRT line contain the same combination of different lane orientations through various parts of the city.
According to the National Association of City Transportation Official (an organization in which Richmond is an affiliate member),the most ideal design is complete median-running BRT lanes since they reduce the number of potential conflicts between right turning cars and vehicles needing to stop on the curb.
Remember the purpose of creating dedicated bus lanes is to ensure that the rapid transit system is not subject to delays that are characteristic of vehicle traffic. A bus that moves between each station more quickly allows for a higher frequency of service, and thereby incentivizes users to consider taking the bus instead of their car.
Since the bus can move more people per hour than an equivalent traffic lane devoted to cars, building bus lanes actually serves to reduce traffic in the city.
Despite the efficiency of median running dedicated BRT lanes, the renderings posted by the GRTC largely show curb running bus lanes with a few sections including a median running scenario. There are also sections of the new line that have dedicated lanes at all, such as on Hull Street.
These decisions likely have to do with efforts to maintain existing street parking or other difficulties with fitting the required space in a narrow street. Per a conversation with a GRTC official at the first public meeting on these new renderings, Manchester is already saturated in terms of parking and so it is difficult to remove street parking in this section of the bus line. The irony of this is, of course, that the bus can accommodate many more people per hour than a parking space can.
That being said, these are very early drafts of the future BRT system and are subject to community input. You can complete this survey before September 30th to help impact the final BRT alignment. The GRTC will also be hosting a virtual public meeting on Thursday, September 19th to share the plans and gather feedback.
A Second Plug for a Brown’s Island BRT Station
As I've mentioned previously, I’d love to see a station on the new BRT line that drops off directly above Brown’s Island. I think it would help serve the major developments coming to the Brown’s Island/ Belle Isle area in the coming years, and provide direct access to a very popular part of the city. This may be the right time to help advocate for this station and make the case for why it would help strengthen ridership and accessibility provided by the new N-S BRT line.
Thanks for reading!
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Midlo Tnpk and Carnation Station needs to be right next to Abuelita's or what's the point? 😁
Great write up and thanks for the clearer map John!