Recording of the April Meeting
Meeting Highlights
- Project Updates
- DB1 Hanover (5 miles Ashland to Woodman Rd) ribbon-cutting coming soon!
- DB2 (9 miles Chester to Petersburg) ground breaking on track for mid-2025
- Bryan Park section in Richmond: big public meeting April 9, 2025 to discuss FL route through the park
- 4 segments underway in Chesterfield along Rt 1
- Henrico working to accomplish Right of Way acquisition for phases north of Bryan Park, hoping to advertise trail sections by end of 2025
- Henrico’s Hilliard Road Diet project to be advertised with FLT
- Henrico’s Dumbarton Road Safety and Mobility Improvement project expected for construction in Q3
- Chesterfield Active Transporation Plan is underway
- Engagement Updates
- National Bike Summit in March, Sports Backers and other Virginians attended to lobby for federal funding for Mayo Bridge and other bike/ped projects
- 12th Bike Walk Academy graduated 18 new community advocates on April 2
- Bryan Park FLT alignment: Green Route is the preferred alignment, community meeting at Richmond Police Academy on April 9
- May is Bike Month: ” Where the Bike Lane Ends”
Fall Line trail related events- Broad Rock Creek Park (Fall Line Route) Cleanup on May 3
- Ashland Fall Line Urbanism Happy Hour on May 7
- CVTA Fall Line Working Group Meeting on May 7
- Bike/Ped Counts on May 6,7,8
Meeting Transcript
0:02
all right good morning This is the April 2025 edition of our quarterly friends of the fall line meeting Thanks all for being here Uh special um shout out
0:13
Thanks um Gumby for being here Uh want to recognize we have an elected official Let me make sure we only have one Thanks for being here Um just so everyone knows we record these We publish them on Sportsbackers YouTube page uh they’re available um in perpetuity and they should also eventually land on the fall line website Um our web team takes care of that So if you ever want to go back and look at them in particular I like
0:38
the October version where uh just 6 months ago we did a sort of a live uh
0:45
route evaluation on Google Street View of the Brian Park section that we’ll talk about a little bit more um uh on a
0:52
following slide But this is just we we want to make sure that you know that these records exist and um welcome your
0:58
input your questions and your your dialogue over uh over these meetings and in advance of these meetings So let me
1:05
start my presentation here
1:23
All right let me know if you’re not seeing that Move on All right funding status
1:29
has not changed in quite some time 281 million still secured Um the last funding that we got was the 7 and a half
1:36
million from state trails office uh last general assembly Um the uh I should say
1:42
last year’s general assembly 2024 project status Uh we’re super
1:49
excited that the Hannover section the and really Ashland Hannover and Northern Henriiko section um you know so um
1:57
charmingly named DB1 uh is so uh on the cusp of being completed and we’ll talk a
2:03
little bit about that in a second but you know they’re making progress every day and we’ve got Harold Dyson um on
2:09
from VOTE to to give us a little overview on a couple slides from now Um
2:14
but it is very exciting and I think this is going to be the spring and summer of really um celebrating the opening of
2:21
that fivemile section Uh DB2 from Petersburg to Chester is also on in
2:28
progress and I’ll let Harold talk about that in a second Um we have a big public meeting tonight April 9th for the Brian
2:36
Park section And uh the last that I’ve heard from Chesterfield from the the
2:41
fall line specifically is um the four segments are are underway on Route One
2:49
But I did see just that they um they’ve had for the past few months have been working on the Falling Creek connector
2:55
trail that had a public meeting earlier this week and that would be a a really
3:00
exciting connector trail um near uh on Route One um near the Food Lion uh along
3:07
Falling Creek which is really a really cool and exciting thing to see Um we a bit of engagement I hope I
3:16
hope my slides are in the right order If not I’ll have to come back Um the uh we have been um actually I’m going to go
3:23
out of order to make sure that we give folks a chance to talk So uh Ryan I saw you on I I put your um your email in
3:30
this slide here but do you want to give a quick update from Henriiko about what’s uh what’s been developing sure
3:36
thing Uh morning everybody So uh Henriko County is continuing right-of-way acquisition We’re getting really close
3:43
um really just just administrative stuff um to for the uh kind of remaining
3:48
parcels in the Lakeside area We are anticipating to uh advertise all three
3:55
all four of the lakeside sections So that would be lakes sides one two three and the Brooken Hillyard project as well
4:01
as the Hillyard road road diet all together So hopefully that makes things a little bit easier for the contractors
4:07
uh once we do go out there and build this thing Um goal for that is to advertise by August and then the
4:13
remainder the remaining two segments in Herko County the Villa Park segment and Longdale segment hoping to advertise by
4:20
um the end of the year Uh so yeah again Hillyard Road diet will now be advertised with uh the other three or
4:27
four lakeside se segments Um I I see Grady I see that comment I’ll touch on that in just one second Um the other
4:35
project kind of uh adjacent to fall line in the uh lakeside area is the Dumbartan
4:42
road safety mobility improvements project Um this is another road diet that will extend from Brook Road all the
4:49
way to Staples Mill Uh that one we are planning on doing the repaving and restriping kind of in July August with
4:56
some uh a couple of signal replacement um kind of signal replacements going on
5:02
in September So that road diet should be completed by the by the end of September
5:08
Um Grady your question about advertisement is really um kind of the the completion of all of the design and
5:16
right-of-way acquisition all that kind of um all those kinds of tasks and just
5:22
asking I guess asking for prospective contractors who want to build the trail
5:27
um for for bids and uh and again that’s usually a two or three month process
5:34
I think we are anticipating construction happening um by the end of the year on those those like side segments So good question Exciting Any other questions for Ryan
5:48
anything else about Henriiko all right Um moving on to I I I
5:56
summarized this a little bit from what um Morgan at VOTE sent me but Harold would you like to give a bit of an
6:01
update about the about DB1 and DB2 or anything else you want to share about fall line administration
6:09
sure Um this is basically a summary of what’s currently going on We’re working
6:15
in all six of the areas uh that we’ve got open
6:21
Uh there’s we’re doing a lot of paving Um there’s still some grade work taking
6:27
place in some of these sections Stone being placed Uh the bridge is complete So that was a big
6:37
milestone Now we just got to build the trail on either side of it So that kind of uh this kind of gives
6:44
you an idea of what we’re what we’ve got going on Uh one thing I would point out
6:50
we do see a lot of uh folks that you know really want to get out there they’re they’re traveling on um the
6:58
trail either by foot or by bicycle And we do we are still active in
7:04
every section of the trail There’s still still work going on Uh we had one
7:11
individual that uh came out there while we were paving and uh got very close to
7:18
the the roller that was actively rolling the mat
7:23
Um you know we don’t want to see anybody get hurt So just you know if you’re talking to folks we’re trying to get it
7:29
finished so that everybody has access U but we are working and it is active in
7:36
every area So thanks Harold We do every every meeting we we make the statement that the trail is officially not open
7:44
yet It’s an active construction site So we do our best to um amplify that message Um and I think at one point and
7:51
this was maybe 6 months ago uh maybe even longer there weren’t a lot of like
7:57
road closed um signs and cones and fencing that kind of thing up But we’ve
8:03
seen recently that there’s much more of that up there So um people people should know that they shouldn’t be able to
8:08
access it but uh it’s um very tempting for people Yeah everybody’s excited and
8:15
when they see that black ribbon of asphalt they uh they want to begin using it and I I completely understand that
8:22
But there are still you know there’s safety fence that has to go up Uh you
8:27
know in terms of woody but wooden fencing and uh you know there’s there’s
8:32
fall hazards there’s equipment moving back and forth and some of that
8:37
equipment does have blind spots So uh if you’re not familiar with where those blind spots are you could find yourself
8:44
getting injured Definitely And I from years past not from riding on the fall line but um years past riding on just
8:51
regular road resurfacing Getting asphalt and tar off of your bike is not fun So just be
8:58
um I I just want to give a cue to the the notes here I just see the word complete a lot which is pretty nice And
9:05
um the looks like you got you still got some grading You still got some some paving to do And that most of that is
9:11
scheduled for April and a little bit of it is for early May Um and for example
9:17
the area up there between Walder and Waltney Church we’ve got all of the asphalt down uh the safety fences in
9:24
place but we’ve still got to grade the shoulders Hey Todd
9:31
So um you know that’s a good example where it looks like done but it’s not
9:37
Great So that’s awesome Um I will I think um if you need to roll I you’re I
9:43
think feel free to to leave it anytime here but I appreciate you you staying on if you want to Um we will be talking a
9:49
little bit about the potential of the ribbon cutting which we’ve been in consultation with Scott about and u so
9:56if you’d like to be on for that conversation um we can get to that in a couple of slides No I’m I’m good with
10:02
that I’ve got to run Um one thing that you had asked me about DB2 which is the southern section Um VOTE is uh in the
10:12
process of selecting a design build team Um actually this week they’re going
10:18
through that process So we should hear something soon about where that stands
10:23
That’s great We look forward to working with our Tri Cities and and Chesterfield
10:28
um partners to uh start looking at uh when the time comes ribbon cutting for
10:34
that section I think we’ll have a lot of fun All right Well thank you and I’m going to go ahead and sign off Thanks
10:40
Harold Have a great one All right Uh Brantley sorry if I could just uh add as
10:46
well Uh Hanover has signed an agreement with the CVTA to uh for guideway signage
10:52
along handover section of the fault line trail as well That’s awesome And this is Phillip Yeah Great Thanks Philip Um this
11:00
is my last slide for for locality or or procedural update So um any other locality have anything to share
11:09
we do have a couple of slides on Brian Park So I’ll leave maybe leave the I could jump in real quick Thanks B Brley
11:15
if you want Um we um have one little section under construction right now Uh
11:22
Messor um contracting is really kicking butt and getting that done in a hurry Um
11:28
and any day now we’ll be advertising three uh UPC’s under one
11:34contract Um so you know anything anyone can do to
11:41spread the word about the advertisement of that construction contract so we can get a lot of bids and a lot of good bids
11:48Um we’re really excited about getting started with that section Um and
11:55otherwise we’ve got a few others that are just in the design phase underway
12:01That’s great Uh it is are are you free to share what sections are under construction and are going out to bid
12:09uh the one that’s under construction is from Dwight to Gettings right across from DGSC It’s just like a block Um the
12:17one that’s going out to advertisement very soon is from Marina Drive all the
12:22way to LA Avenue Um and yeah then we’ve got one two three
12:31three other projects that are in design Do you I can tell you those offline sometime Yeah that’s great And um since
12:39I have you on the microphone do you have anything to share about the um the bikeways and trails plan i’m not sure
12:45that’s what it’s not called that anymore Um but the the plan that you’re working on active transportation Chesterfield
12:51active transportation plan Yes Our uh update to the old bikeways and trails
12:57plan is underway We’re working internally to um kind of evaluate data
13:04and try to find out um identify destinations and origins you know where
13:12it makes sense to connect people to um destinations Um so we’re working
13:19internally on that at the moment That’s great
13:24any anything else no that’s it Thanks Or or um any other locality partners have
13:30anything to share well I’d love to sort of wrap up this conversation on we were going through
13:36our internal work plan for the year and seeing what what things we need to work on before the end of the fiscal year And
13:43we have been we spent a lot of time on our Brian Park work and we’ll talk about that on another slide But one of the
13:49things that’s still to do this year is to focus on putting together a regionwide placemaking um menu So I
13:57think some of the work that you’re doing uh with your active transportation plan Barb it would um it sort of cues a
14:03conversation like we really need to reach out to each of our locality partners to say you know are there some
14:09really salient options for where there’s a trailside placemaking opportunity that we should get on a map somewhere and be
14:16cognizant of our ability to be a partner for it So just um if you’re listening
14:21we’ll be reaching out to you probably later this month to set up some meetings for later in the fiscal year to see if
14:28we can start just brainstorming You know I think we probably have some lower hanging fruit than others that we can
14:35start thinking about either new parks or connections to um other destinations I
14:41know you internally you many localities already have some kind of uh prioritization and I’d love to kind of
14:47get that in one place as something of a um an addendum to the fall line vision
14:54plan and to help kind of communicate those priorities to the public So
14:59nothing that we really need to work on today but we want to keep that conversation going
15:05All right So tonight Brian Park Um you probably read a few letters to the
15:11editor and the newspaper and other places and um those who are following the administrative administrative side
15:17of this Um last year the city of Richmond’s consultants or the city of
15:23Richmond and its consultants put together a package of alignments that
15:28were considered for um the fall line through Brian Park And the there’s been
15:35some interest in different alternatives And so the the the what we call the
15:41preferred alignment which is the green alignment on this map um uh has gone
15:46through some additional analysis Some different alignments have been have also
15:52been analyzed from a cost comparison standpoint from a environmental impact
15:57standpoint And tonight those details are going to be presented uh to the public
16:02in a meeting that we think will be lively and well attended Um we still at Sportsbackers really
16:10support the green line Um if you go back to that October meeting you can you can do uh you can follow along in our
16:16thought process But as you can see just from this map it is among the shortest ways that you can get through the park
16:23Um it really connects almost all of the amenities that are in Brian Park Uh
16:28connects both both parking lots both active shelters the soccer field
16:33bathrooms playgrounds Uh and it it has very minor if if any impacts to the disc
16:40golf course uh in the park and circumvents a lot of the
16:45um vibrancy the and what some people might call congestion around the big market on Saturdays Uh and it really
16:53benefits pedestrians of all kinds And when I say that I mean people in wheelchairs using walkers people of all
16:59a ages and abilities where they are already walking Now um Rosena’s Lane is
17:04essentially the only paved way to get through the park uh that connects all these amenities and there are no
17:10pedestrian dedicated spaces there Uh and not everyone is particularly capable of
17:15walking on unpaved uh natural surfaces So we think this solves a demand and
17:21pedestrian safety issue that exists today while also really highlighting the
17:26the major amenities and the trail head potential for this park And it’s a it’s
17:32a beautiful park I’ve spent many many summers here racing bikes and I I know
17:38um just about every inch of it pretty well Uh but the other alternatives have been considered uh at least to some
17:44degree the the there is some demand uh you should say for basically having a
17:51fall line through the park that does not add any new pavement Um and that’s the the attempt of using the pink line and
17:58the orange line are alternatives to the green line that theoretically could use
18:04existing roads I won’t go into great detail here because we have discussed this a fair amount and it’s going to be at the meeting tonight But we just want
18:11to show that they’re they’re just by design longer Uh they are not and uh
18:17unlike the green line which is the only line in the park that has uh street lighting today Um they’re unlit They are
18:25much more of the natural setting of the park Um they also these roads have cars
18:31um regularly some they do not have cars all the time but because of the big market because of the Aelia Garden
18:38because of access to the Brian Park Bike Race which is a loop that uses both part
18:43of the pink and the orange lines um cars regularly use these roads And um having
18:50a significant separated multi-use trail uh either you know they don’t make a
18:57great option for that in their existing conditions or they would require significant new pavement um and tree
19:03impacts So we expect that conversation to really be uh thoughtful and borne out
19:09tonight with uh Timmans leading that discussion with the city Uh we’ve been
19:14doing a lot of our engagement uh to get people familiar with these options The white line which you might not it might
19:21not jump out at you but it’s on the eastern side of the park here uh was something of an 11th hour option that
19:27was provided uh about a month ago from some nearby residents So I don’t know if
19:33it’s been given the same level of analysis but it is essentially entirely green space uh and cuts through um a
19:42significant section of the disc golf course and it crosses I’ll show this on a picture in a minute but it crosses the
19:47only major car bridge in the uh park near the main entrance The main entrance
19:53is just to the east here So you’ll see some of the disadvantages of that And it’s really not um from an environmental
20:00standpoint not that much less intense or impactful if less impactful at all from
20:07the green line So um we’ll see a lot of discussion about this tonight
20:13couple of pictures from a recent walk This is actually a walk from the people who are proposing the uh the white line
20:20though we’re responsible for about twothirds of the p people in the picture being there Um you can see this is uh
20:27we’re walking through the disc golf course now behind shelter 3 This is a lot of virgin land that would have to be
20:34paved as opposed to the the green line which is pretty impacted land in the
20:40park already because it’s so heavily used Um and you can see the bridge here that we would have to cross at a um a
20:48pretty steep angle if you’re coming from the background here on the left And uh so there’s there’s sight
20:56angle or or sight line issues or speed issues And this is a narrow bridge that except for the tiniest of cars um you
21:03really can only have one car at any any given time On this walk with about 20 people and we were here at about 1:30 on
21:10a Saturday um we must have seen 40 cars go by and they they stacked up uh while
21:16we were standing there Um it was obvious how how dangerous it would um it really
21:22could be for a biking and walking standpoint especially when bikes are moving at 10 or 15 miles an hour Um
21:29stopping distances and sight lines become really critical So I I just don’t think that this alignment um has a lot
21:36of credibility but we uh just want to kind of have the conversation that you know certainly we want to evaluate the
21:42different options I think the city has done a good job at evaluating the options Um and we want to support a
21:49decision to be made so we can actually get the trail built Uh we’ve done a lot of work to get community engagement We
21:55actually worked with volunteers to mark all four of these alignments with colorcoordinated uh marking flags and
22:02they’ve been out for a week now So people could come on their own time and evaluate the four different alternatives
22:08And hopefully you know we we provide some some encouragement to think about how would someone in a wheelchair use
22:14this how would someone with um an invisible disability use this how does
22:19this help someone who is visiting Brian Park to see a soccer game with their
22:25grandchildren but they need to be able to get to the bathroom or they have to park at a a lot that’s not close to the
22:32soccer fields How does how does the pink help how does the orange help um and we
22:38think we’ve gotten a lot of um that that people are coming to some kind of
22:43agreement that the Green Line offers a lot of the benefits that we’re trying to get with the fall line Overall we’re
22:49pretty excited to see 18 organizations from around um the the region but you
22:54know have some footprint in the city of Richmond uh support the Green Line and um pretty proud of this coalition that’s
23:01being built around the benefits of the Green Line We’ll see that conversation develop a little bit more
23:08tonight Any questions on Brian Park uh we’re expecting approximately 200
23:14people We’re administratively what we think is um uh we understand that the
23:23this the green line has passed urban design committee and the planning
23:28commission it’s in Richmond 300 and everyone in the city suggests that it
23:34has um it’s compliant with that and would not need to go back to city council So we’re moving on sort of
23:42forward with that understanding Um but this meeting is certainly in coordination with and we we know that um
23:48the local newly elected city council woman Kenya Gibson is going to be um a
23:54major um participant in tonight’s meeting Uh we’ll see where the
24:00conversation lands at that point Um this is very similar in my opinion to the the
24:05Brook Road era 6 years ago where we had about 300 people in the same venue
24:10actually the police academy Um and we have a lot of people prepared to speak
24:16to support in many ways the ex the ADA and disability um improved experience
24:22that the Green Line provides um in the meeting tonight Anybody interested in discussing
24:31oh I see a question What is the format of the meeting that’s great Um we actually have a lot of community members
24:37um leading group rides from around the city to get to Brian Park or to get to the um police training center um uh to
24:46attend the meeting So we’ll be running bike valet If you’re encouraged to ride we’d love for you to ride and and make a
24:52visual statement of the demand for um the community to have this the fall line in Brian Park Um and the meeting runs
25:01from 5:00 to 7:00 We’re told that we’ll start with like open board format Uh but
25:07there will be a presentation and discussion We think that’ll start approximately 5:30 Um certainly
25:13encourage you to get there early if you can And I know it we didn’t pick the time and I think that 5:00 is a little bit challenging for people getting out
25:19of work but we we uh we made the case that it needed to at least officially start um a little after 5:00 so people
25:26could get there and get in and get settled So that’s all that I know um
25:31we’re kind of prepared for a few different options but we think folks should be if if open speaking happens we
25:38want to make sure that some of the holistic benefits of the green line um
25:44are represented by a good group of
25:49people All right Well some upcoming things Um we’re on the cusp of May It’ll
25:56be here before you get there And so we’ve begun our RVA bike month planning now in our 12th year Some of the things
26:01that are coming up um most of these are on the bike month calendar though the um DBTA meeting won’t be Uh we’ve got a
26:08cleanup on May 3rd that it’ll it’s a partnership with Virginia Community Voice I say fall route cleanup It it is
26:15not entirely determined what the fall line route will be in this vicinity in Southside Um I think the the the
26:23official alignment in this area uses as Commerce Road head south from the James
26:28River Uh it turns into Belme Road and then it um turns south onto Route One Uh
26:37when that alignment was chosen there was no Broad Rock Creek Park That’s one of the new parks relatively new parks that
26:43was established a few years ago And there’s an opportunity potentially to have the fall line go through that park
26:49essentially cut the corner of Route One there Um we are not pushing for that in
26:54any particular way but that option is is out there And even if the route does not
27:00change Broad Creek Park will be adjacent to the fall line And it’s uh it’s worth noting it’s going to be a great place
27:06and we’ll have bathrooms and some other additional amenities for trail users So we’re partnering with a Southside group
27:13to do a cleanup in the park on May 3rd and that’s our part of our quarterly service program that we do uh for the
27:19fall line Um this is now the third year that Rich and I think I might have seen
27:26Rich on the call here Uh Rich uh who happens to work for Chesterfield
27:32County uh has been leading the Richmond Urbanism Happy Hour and every May has had a fall line themed event Um this
27:39year we’ll be celebrating DB1 and um having a little walk So Rich do you want
27:44to talk about your event yeah sure I just put a link in the chat for anyone who wants to sign up But yeah
27:52me and Ann Derby we co-lead this series of um happy hour events with the American Planning Association’s Virginia
27:58chapter Um so feel free to reach out to us if you have any ideas for great events We always like to feature bike
28:03ped stuff Um and as part of bike month as Brantley said for the for the last
28:08three years we’ve coordinated with BikeWalk RVA to feature different sections of the fall line trail So the
28:14the first year we just sort of talked about the planning behind the fall line Last year we walked um the Chester
28:20Linear Park which is going to be a section of trail just north of DB2 um
28:25that was mentioned earlier um that’s not completed yet and it’ll it’s exciting that this year we’re actually gonna get
28:31to walk part of the DB1 that’s soon to be finished So should be a lot of fun
28:36It’s super casual We’re meeting at Carter Park Um the town of Ashlin’s hosting us They’ve already reserved a
28:42pavilion for us there at the park And then we’ll um have Brantley and Natalie give kind of just a brief overview of
28:49updates about the trail and specifically about the section uh Nora from the town will talk a little
28:54bit about some of the initiatives the town’s doing to take advantage of its its terminus there in the town and we’ll
29:02just have a nice little walk and happy hour to follow at Origin So it’s not limited just to planning So feel free to
29:08come out come out and join and it’s free and Norah is also going to be raffling off a couple of gift cards to town
29:15businesses So but you have to sign up So sign up on the Eventbrite link if you’re interested
29:22Yeah Rich does a great job Um I he says it’s casual and it it certainly is in ter terms of like come as you are but
29:28the uh we’ve had 40 50 60 people at some of these events over the years So um I
29:34think uh it ends up being a really great crowd and a lot of great conversations uh with like-minded folks So appreciate
29:40your leadership on that Rich And uh I’ll see you on the 7th Sure thing U also on
29:47the seventh this will actually be in the morning um what I think is the final CVTA fall line working group Uh we no
29:53longer will have a Wednesday morning conflict um uh for the at least for the
29:58the friends of the fall line quarterly meetings and we’re extremely excited to be able to host the group at sports
30:04backer’s new office which is on the fall line and we’ve been in now for about 3 weeks Um we still have just a little bit
30:11of wet paint but it has been really great to to even see you know on our
30:171400 foot section of the trail next to our office which goes through the ATM lane um to see trail users um using it
30:26even in the past few weeks Um anything you want to I don’t know if I saw chat on here Is there uh anyone that would
30:33like to share maybe Barb as the chair of the CVTA fall working group Anything you want to share
30:43yeah pretty simple stuff Um I think uh a lot the CVTA and its members and and
30:49staff support should really be proud Uh and look forward to keeping a lot of that conversation going here at the
30:55Friends of the Fall meeting I’m sorry Brantley I couldn’t find the unmute Oh
31:00that’s okay I don’t have anything to add though Okay I appreciate it
31:07Uh well if you haven’t been by uh we look forward to you joining on May 7th uh for the CVTA meeting And um uh we’re
31:16we’re around too So we look we think of our um of our of our office as a trail
31:22head It’s certainly a part of Henriiko’s trail head for the fall line there There are going to be exterior bathrooms Uh
31:29we’re going to be working on the with the county on some park features like
31:34benches and landscaping but also art and other um celebrations of active living
31:40there And we so far just couldn’t be happier with our relationship with the
31:46city where the building is and um Henriiko where the trail is and and
31:51Henriiko as the owners of the building just the everyone’s been very supportive and we look forward to uh keeping that
31:57relationship going And back after a few years we’ll have our bike pet counts Um
32:04this year they’ll be on the 6th 7th and 8th in the evening Um we’re working with
32:10Richmond Henriiko Health District um as we did prior to the pandemic to um map
32:18out the most beneficial places to count and direct volunteers to do it in a um
32:25sort of national leading um uh protocol of of how you count pedestrians using
32:32bike and pedestrian infrastructure in an effort to just get more data to get more volunteerism more eyes on on our uh bike
32:39and pedestrian infrastructure and um hopefully leading to improved decision-m
32:45and um helping to manage and and implement new bike ped stuff throughout
32:51the region I think we’re hoping to have at least some in Henriiko uh as well as
32:56the city of Richmond but we have not yet determined specifically where we will have them Um and if you have specific
33:03demands please let me or Peter Braun know and we can make sure that they are included I will say this is a little
33:09awkward I’m going to go back a few slides now um because my slides are not in the right order and I want to show a
33:15little bit of some of our additional um sort of outreach updates At the National
33:20Bike Summit which is every March we led um the state delegation uh to meet our
33:28um Congress representatives and senators uh at a time when we were learning that
33:35US DOT was planning to cut funding to applications that included bike and pedestrian infrastructure This would
33:42very significantly and directly impact the city’s application for the Mayor Bridge Um and I’m sure other projects
33:50across the state Uh unfortunately I don’t think that we’ve gotten any good news since that time Uh though I can
33:56certainly say um Senators Warner and Kane are particularly passionate about the Mayo Bridge and about bike ped
34:03funding Um so we have we have good people in our court on this issue Um and
34:09I think that they’re still they’re still working on it as best as they can Um but we continue to think of the National
34:15Bike Summit as a great time to have these conversations to talk about the fall line talk about things like the
34:20Mayo Bridge Uh and we will continue to to keep doing that It was also Natalie’s
34:26first time Um I think Natalie is working at the 10K Expo today So uh just so you
34:31know it’s 10K week Um if you have plans on Saturday in downtown and they are not the 10K which they should be just be
34:38advised from a uh a traffic standpoint We’d love to see you in Monroe Park Um
34:44uh but the um it was her first time seeing some of what many of us have been
34:49able to see on our trips to the WOD to um uh the Custous Trail seeing the
34:56downtown network of bike lanes that use um prefabricated concrete barriers or
35:02curb stops or flex posts that are in much um um higher frequency than what
35:09we’ve seen used uh in our region uh and very effectively prevent cars
35:15from parking in them or driving in them And um we’ve also seen the the high
35:22number of parks that dot the Custous and WD trail that have playgrounds within
35:29feet of the um WOD trail They have basketball courts within feet of the WOD
35:36trail They have soccer fields that are feet within the um the the WOD trail and
35:43they’re not causing some of the the safety implications that we’ve heard are
35:49of of concern in Brian Park um just the what we’ve seen work in other places I
35:55think we should expect to work in um uh in Brian Park and we just it’s
36:02it’s so inspiring to see how well the WD trail corridor works for people and
36:08connects people to you know youth to being able to bike to a game Um we look
36:14forward to that future in um in Brian Park and throughout the whole following
36:20corridor Uh we now completed our 12th Bikewalk Academy Uh I think this year we
36:26had 17 graduates from around the region to advocate for to learn u some best
36:32practices on how to advocate for biking and walking infrastructure And uh you’ll see many of them tonight Um in
36:39particular we had some folks from representing organizations like Sportable and Virginia Conservation
36:45Network because we we recognize that the fall line has really great opportunity to support environmental and and ADA um
36:54accessibility points Um so we look forward to to their advocate leadership on those issues and really kind of
37:01adding a a really legitimate dimensions to bike ped advocacy um that you know it
37:08can only happen with more people being involved And a quick shout out to plan RDA They actually hosted us for five of
37:14our six sessions They’re they’re you sure you many of you recognize the mural in their boardroom here Um just have
37:21been really open door great partners Uh we did have our last session actually in Brian Park and uh we graduated at our
37:29new office So in this blue floored room um you can actually see a bit of you can
37:34kind of see the fall line in the upper leftand corner Um this is our new community room where the the CVTA
37:40meeting will be held and we look forward to hosting community meetings of all kinds actually Um uh from free fitness
37:48classes to even things like the friends of Brian Park board meetings Uh we’ll host our own board meetings here as well
37:55as a lot of our volunteer training from across sports backers program portfolio
38:00Um so we uh if you have a a meeting that’s active living related and you’re in the neighborhood um keep us in mind
38:07and if our room is available we can make it available to you Let’s see Okay now back back to my
38:15normal order here Here we go I’m super excited to share the theme of this
38:20year’s bike month Um does anybody know the
38:25reference someone certainly has to Where the sidewalk is yeah that’s right And
38:31who wrote that someone’s got to know Shell Silverstein
38:37Shell Silverstein Absolutely That’s right Um this is actually a little bit
38:42of a um you can probably tell that this is the Mayo Bridge Um this is a bit of a
38:48riff on our funding problem It’s a little bit of a riff on um and and and
38:54in the best nature the unfortunate u crash of um principal Greg Music uh from
39:02Mary Mumford who was um hit I guess about 3 weeks ago now uh while riding in
39:08a bike lane or exiting a bike lane to make a left turn and just understanding the importance of completing our bikeway
39:15network of you know like the safety just goes away as soon as the bike lane is over And unfortunately sometimes you
39:23hear conversations to say like well the bike lane was dangerous and that was why Greg music was hit And it’s like that’s
39:29just you’re just really missing the point when that’s the conversation that people start to have Uh and we want to
39:34make sure that people um think about what we’re trying to achieve with dedicated space for people
39:40biking and walking Um I also think that this is a really great nod uh to Mayor
39:47Danny Avula for his leadership on the Mayo Bridge And while we’re at potentially a bit of a funding impass I
39:54really appreciate the way that he has taken the conversation around the Mayo Bridge and uplifted the advocacy of the
40:01neighborhoods and the river group and of course the biking and walking movement to think of it as a signature place uh
40:08for biking and walking and investing in the safety of that of the design of the
40:13forthcoming replacement of the bridge So I think it this theme as always is meant to be a little cheeky and also meant to
40:20be um kind of nuanced in all the things that we want to share about the biking
40:25and walking moment that we’re in And also just personally it feels very nostalgic and I think our graphic
40:31designer did an amazing job Um so if you see Dion give him a pat on the
40:37back All right that’s all I’ve got to share today As always we encourage you to take a look at the fall vision plan
40:42We’ll be uh reaching out to our local partners to see again if we can kind of think of a an overlay of the fall line
40:50corridor of potential um high priority or near-term placemaking opportunities
40:57and to think about how we can support those And our next meeting is in exactly 3 months July 9th same time and place
41:05And uh we’ll make sure you have that access to the Zoom Oh this is a great question Uh Andy yes I guess this is
41:12John’s official last meeting though I think we’re going to keep him on the hook for uh attending as a citizen I did
41:18see John on here Do you want to say anything about that he he might have jumped off No he’s
41:25here Um yeah John is retiring at the end of the month And I did not put a slide in here Um but we have recently
41:32announced and I had nothing to do with this but I’m very supportive of the decision that our new executive director
41:38is an internal hire uh Will Dixon who has been our C our chief administrative
41:43officer for the past few years but has really come up through the ranks uh at Sportsbackers started as an intern
41:50worked in our development office became a development director then um chief
41:55administrative officer and he really knows the the the DNA of sports backers
42:00and has the passion and I’ve now worked with him for going on 13 years and uh
42:06very excited for um for Will to taking the helm and it’s it’s great timing and
42:12I want to give John some credit on how he’s crafted this process for Will to be
42:18hired He of of course as executive director worked with the board to set up the succession plan but he was not on
42:24the hiring committee Uh and they let them make their decision But since they’ve made the hire we now have a few
42:30months for John to um really focus on
42:35onboarding Will and um for for Will to kind of take the helm with some guidance
42:42which I think is great So I would uh if you see Will I’ I’d certainly encourage you to give him some some
42:47congratulations If you don’t know Will I’m happy to introduce him to you You’ll certain I think you’ll start seeing him
42:53a lot more Yeah So uh Brantley Andy thank you Uh
42:59yeah I guess I I guess officially uh last meeting um you know I I uh earlier
43:06when Todd you’re retired I made him promise that every year we would get together and ride whatever sections of
43:12the fall line are are open So uh we’re we’re already making plans to ride the
43:18northern section here So So yeah I might be retiring but I’m not going away Um
43:23and uh we we uh the fall line is very uh
43:28near and dear to to not only what I do at Sports Backers but how I personally
43:34want to see our community be built and and outcomes it’ll provide for people Uh
43:39we’ll keep living and keep going for the however long it takes to get it done So yeah I’m I’m going to be an advocate for
43:46the fall line forever So how how that uh works h how forever is um but I don’t
43:52have to work at sports backers to do that So thank you And yeah to end final note um Philip you
43:59bring up a good a good point This is not official yet I think we’re getting close we’re getting very close to this Um just
44:04want to make sure that we have enough um uh availability from our local
44:10decision makers But uh it’s looking like May 22nd will be the ribbon cutting for
44:16DB1 the Ashland Hannover Northern Henriiko section of the fall line Likely
44:22going to be 10:00 a.m and very and very likely to be a very similar format and location as the groundbreaking last year
44:30Um we have sent uh uh we’re coordinating with Scott and VOTE coordinating with
44:37Henriiko Hanover and Ashland um boards of supervisors and uh town council as
44:43well as our leading staff many of whom are on the call here Um it looks like
44:4910:00 a.m on May 22nd which is a Thursday works well And I’m I’m trying to make sure that we get that confirmed
44:55um procedurally uh in the next few days so I can get it on the RVA bike month
45:01calendar Um but you if you’re so inclined feel free to pencil that in on
45:07your calendar and uh I I definitely think it’s a celebration worth for the
45:12whole region Phil um that was uh it was um at
45:19the basically the southern end of the concrete boardwalk section of the
45:25trolley line trail um uh at the transition to the new section where it’s
45:31paved with asphalt going into the handover park section um sort of where
45:36the concrete company is That’s this is to be confirmed for sure that there may be um designs on having it near the
45:45bridge or something like that So we we we still have to do all the actual work to plan the event Um but it’ll be in
45:52Ashland or Hannibmber almost definitely
45:58All right Well I appreciate everyone’s time Um I I think I’ll be seeing many of you tonight at um the police training
46:05academy And uh wherever you are I encourage you to cross your fingers
46:10Thanks very much