April 14 Newsletter: Richmond's roads are improving
Weather: A pleasant spring week begins. 76 and cloudy.
On this date in 1917, Richmond coroner William Henry Taylor, who served in the role for 45 years, dies at his home. A VCU biography notes that he “entertained his students with stories from his work.”
If Richmond’s roads seem like they’re in better shape than they used to be, it’s not your imagination.
City streets have improved dramatically under a standard road-quality metric called the Pavement Condition Index.
- In 2018, just 35% of Richmond's roads were rated "good" or "satisfactory."
- This year, 75% achieved that rating.
It's an example of taxpayers getting bang for their (increasing) buck. Under former Mayor Levar Stoney, the paving budget was given a big increase.
Some districts are still lagging behind, which DPW Director Bobby Vincent said is in part because money was spent first on time-sensitive projects.
South Richmond’s 8th District had the lowest score at 61%, but it also has the highest number of lane miles in the city by a fairly wide margin.
Read more, and get a link to street-by-street road condition maps, here.
What is 'tactical urbanism'? The city hopes it's an answer for a crash-prone intersection.
The newest municipal buzzword describes citizen-led projects that use low-cost, temporary solutions to fix pressing problems in the community.
Richmond recently named the city's first-ever tactical urbanism artist, Sam 'Skrimpz' Prather.
He's working with students at Linwood Holton Elementary to create murals around new traffic-calming devices.
Federal government cancels $12 million grant scheduled for Richmond water plant
Richmond will not receive $12 million in grant money previously approved by the federal government which was earmarked for the city's water treatment plant.
"FEMA is now reassessing how grant funds can better align with the new Administration’s priorities," the federal government wrote in an email.
- In a statement, Mayor Danny Avula said the denial of the grant will not impact immediate operations at the plant, or the work being done to bounce back from the crisis, but said "the federal government is shifting significant costs directly onto our residents and ratepayers."
Join us for a movie night at The Byrd!
The Richmonder invites you to join us for a screening of "Join or Die," a film about the importance of community and civic involvement.
Following the film, director Rebecca Davis will participate in a Q&A with the audience.
Tickets are free to Richmonder donors, and $10 for others. Join us by requesting tickets here.
In other news
- Henrico County tackles water service needs in FY26 budget (VPM)
- Only 59% of Virginians have a Real ID: What to know before May 7 (Axios)
- Energy demand will outstrip supply in Virginia as data centers proliferate (Cardinal News)
The editor's desk
Rich Meagher, host of the RVA's Got Issues podcast, joined me on my radio show last week to talk about his new episode on sports tourism.
Local sports tourism isn't about people going to the Masters or the Super Bowl, it's about youth teams coming from across the country to play in weekend tournaments at Richmond-area facilities.
And it's a huge business: last year it generated almost $1 billion in economic impact, and sports teams represented about 75% of all hotel group bookings locally. None of those youth games will be on TV, but they're becoming a huge part of Richmond's tourism economy.
Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org
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