Richmond to consider four roundabout proposals individually

Richmond is tapping the brakes on a proposal to build roundabouts at four intersections in South Richmond and the East End.

At the same time, a City Council committee moved a step closer to blocking a proposed roundabout at a busy intersection in North Richmond.

The Land Use, Housing and Transportation Standing Committee voted 2-1 yesterday in support of a proposal to prevent a roundabout from being created at Laburnum Avenue and Hermitage Road. The long-pending proposal by 3rd District Councilman Chris A. Hilbert now moves to the full council at its meeting on Monday.

The committee also had been scheduled to consider a proposal by Mayor Dwight C. Jones to create four roundabouts in other city neighborhoods. However, the Jones administration said yesterday that it will withdraw the proposal so that the four projects can be considered individually instead of as a package.

Sharon North, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works, said the city would file separate proposals to create roundabouts at:

• Belt Boulevard and Hull Street Road in South Richmond;

• Forest Hill Avenue and Roanoke Street, also in South Side;

• North 25th Street at Fairmount Avenue and Nine Mile Road in the East End; and

• North 23rd Street and Fairfield Avenue, also in the East End.

North said she did not know when the proposals would be refiled.

The mayor is recommending the projects, which would use $2.7 million in federal and state money. If approved, the roundabouts would be built with pedestrian crosswalk markings, handicap ramps and new signs, and be designed to reduce vehicle accidents caused by irregularities in how the roads align at the intersections.

Each of the roundabouts would be one lane, except for the one at Belt Boulevard and Hull Street Road, which would be two lanes, North said.

But the city may be thwarted in its plan to create a two-lane roundabout at the intersection of Laburnum and Hermitage, which surrounds a statue of Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill.

Hilbert and Charles R. Samuels of the 2nd District voted yesterday to block the North Side roundabout. Hilbert introduced the proposed prohibition on behalf of opponents in the neighborhoods surrounding the intersection. Chairman Douglas G. Conner Jr. of the 9th District voted against the proposal because he favors the roundabout.

City Traffic Engineer Thomas E. Flynn urged the committee to allow the roundabout project to proceed. He cited national statistics that he said led city officials to conclude there would be a sharp decline in traffic injuries and deaths if the roundabout replaced the current system of a four-way traffic signal at the intersection. He also warned that the city would have to repay $75,000 in federal money supplied by the state to support the project and that future federal road funding could be jeopardized.

Hilbert said the intersection poses unique safety problems because of its location in front of Linwood Holton Elementary School and high-speed traffic traveling on Laburnum from Interstates 64 and 195, especially on weekends with NASCAR races at Richmond International Raceway.

"I'm very concerned about people coming up on this thing at a high rate of speed," he said.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or .

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or .