- Transportation in Richmond, Virginia
Transportation in Richmond, Virginia and its immediate surroundings include land, sea and air modes. This article includes the
independent city and portions of the contiguous counties of Henrico and Chesterfield. While almost all of Henrico County would be considered part of the Richmond area, southern and eastern portions of Chesterfield adjoin the three smaller independent cities of Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights, collectively commonly called the Tri-Cities area. A largely rural section of southwestern Chesterfield may be considered not a portion of eithersuburb an area.It should be noted the Richmond-Petersburg metropolitan area is considered by many criteria to include the Tri-Cities area and many more surrounding counties,
incorporated town s, and unincorporated communities. (For information on this larger area, seeRichmond-Petersburg MSA).Transportation history
Antebellum
Richmond's transportation history dates to the early 17th century. The Virginia Colony, established at Jamestown in 1607, was dependent upon the waterways as avenues of commerce. Along the river, the
James River plantations such asJohn Rolfe 's Varina Farms had their ownwharf s on theriver s. Located east of thefall line , they were soon shippingtobacco and otherexport crops abroad.The two cities which became the modern City of Richmond were first established as
port s on the north and south banks of the James River due to their location at thehead of navigation on the fall line. The ports at the head of navigation became transfer points, and Richmond, on the north bank of the river, and its former neighbor Manchester, along the south bank, became points forcanal s which were built to bypass the falls and rapids and connect with navigable waters upstream. Transfer to and from watercraft was also undertaken as land transportation developed in the form of turnpikes and railroads.The first
stagecoach lines to Richmond were established during theWar of 1812 , and the first regularsteamboat service began on the James River in 1815. Early the 19th century, theVirginia Board of Public Works began funding transportation infrastructure improvements, stimulating such private enterprises as theJames River and Kanawha Canal , theChesterfield Railroad , and numerous turnpikes.By 1855, Richmond had railroads extending in many directions. Long championed in the
Virginia General Assembly byWhitmell P. Tunstall , theRichmond and Danville Railroad to the southwest was completed in 1854. Others included theVirginia Central Railroad , to the west, and theRichmond and Petersburg Railroad to the south, initially from Manchester. The predecessor to theRichmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was complete north toPotomac Creek , where it connected with steamship service via theChesapeake Bay to Alexandria, Baltimore, and beyond.Civil War, Reconstruction, streetcars
During the
American Civil War , when Richmond served as the capital of theConfederate States of America , Richmond's railroads and connections to the other southern states were crucial to its support. Defenses atDrewry's Bluff blocked the Union Navy from access to Richmond (and its sister city Manchester) via the river. The rail connections through Petersburg were the key links which Union GeneralUlysses S. Grant sought to sever during theSiege of Petersburg in 1864-65. The fall of Petersburg in April 1865 necessitated the evacuation of Richmond byJefferson Davis and the Confederate cabinet. The Civil War effectively ended with the surrender during GeneralRobert E. Lee 's retreat a week later.After the Civil War, Richmond's (and Manchester's) transportation infrastructure was quickly rebuilt, and improvements and expansion resumed. Virginia State Engineer
Claudius Crozet 's innovativetunnel s under theBlue Ridge Mountains became a key portion ofCollis P. Huntington 's Chesapeake and Ohio railroad linking eastern Virginia to the Ohio River Valley which was completed in1873. By 1881, Pocahontas coal was riding the rails from the mountains eastbound for export via the C&O through Richmond tocoal pier s at Newport News on the harbor ofHampton Roads . The James River and Kanawha Canal was conveyed to MajorJames H. Dooley 'sRichmond and Allegheny Railroad by a deed datedMarch 4 ,1880 . Railroad construction workers promptly started laying tracks on the towpath creating a new water-level rail route which was soon purchased by the C&O.Richmond had the first successful electrically powered
street railway system in the United States. Designed by electric power pioneer,Frank J. Sprague , the trolley system opened its first line in January, 1888. Richmond's hills, long a transportation obstacle, were considered an ideal proving ground. The new technology soon replacedhorsecar s.As part of a national trend, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the electrically powered street railway systems accelerated Richmond's expansion. To generate traffic and fuel sales of property,
amusement park s were created at the end of the lines at Lakeside Park, Westhampton Park (nowUniversity of Richmond ), and Forest Hill Park. Rails ofinterurban streetcar services formed a suburban network from Richmond extending north to Ashland and south to Chester, Colonial Heights, Petersburg and Hopewell. Another interurban route ran east along theNine Mile Road and terminated at the National Cemetery atSeven Pines at the end of the Nine Mile Road, where many Union Civil War dead were interred. The area'sstreetcar suburb s included Highland Park, Barton Heights,Ginter Park ,Woodland Heights , and Highland Springs.20th century: Union stations, consolidation, bridges, expressways
A major issue for Manchester and Richmond residents in the 19th and early 20th century were the
toll bridge s over the James River. In 1910, Manchester agreed to a political consolidation with the much larger independent city of Richmond. Richmond's better-known name was used for both areas as it contained the location of Virginia's state capital. Key features of the consolidation agreement were requirements that a "free bridge" across the James River be maintained indefinitely. Instead of barrier between neighboring cities, under the consolidation, the James River became the centerpiece of the expanded Richmond. Supplementing the two free bridges near the downtown area (Mayo and Ninth Street Bridges), several additional toll bridges were constructed to the west, notably theWestham Bridge in 1911, theBoulevard Bridge in 1927, and the four-laneRobert E. Lee Memorial Bridge in 1934.As roads improved in the early 20th century, streetcars were unable to compete with
automobile s andbus es. The Richmond-Petersburg area's interurban streetcar services were gone by 1939, replaced by buses. The last streetcars ran in 1949 on the Highland Park line when they were also replaced by buses.Two new union railroad stations opened in Richmond during the first two decades of the 20th century. The only railroad continuing its own passenger station became the Southern Railway, with its
Hull Street Station in Manchester. In 1901, Richmond's Main Street Station was built by theSeaboard Air Line Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. It was designed by thePhiladelphia firm of Wilson, Harris, and Richards in theFrench Renaissance style. A new Broad Street Station was built in 1917 by theRichmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad . Broad Street Station has a huge facility, serving several railroads, notably theAtlantic Coast Line Railroad . Designed in the neoclassical style by the architectJohn Russell Pope , passenger service to the station ceased in 1975. The station then became the home of theScience Museum of Virginia , which remains in the substantially remodeled and expanded building. Hull Street Station is also amuseum in modern-times, but after being idle and in other uses for many years, Main Street Station sawAmtrak service restored in 2003.In 1927, the dedication of Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field (later known as Byrd Airport, and now Richmond International Airport) included a visit by aviator
Charles Lindbergh . The airport was named afterRichard E. Byrd , the famous American polar explorer, who was the brother of GovernorHarry F. Byrd .Also in 1927, Virginia's State Highway Department, the predecessor of the
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), was formed. ByWorld War II , a network of highways linked Richmond and the surrounding region with other communities and other states.After World War II, with only four traffic lanes and long stretches of undivided roadway, the
Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway became a major area of traffic congestion, as well as the site of occasional spectacular and deadly head-on collisions. In 1955, prior to the creation of the U.S.Interstate Highway System , the Virginia General Assembly created theRichmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority as a state agency to administer the new Turnpike of the same name. The new toll road was planned with only 15 exits, and most of these were well away from the highly developed commercial areas along parallel U.S. 301. The Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike opened in 1958, and soon was granted the Interstate 95 designation through Richmond. Local automobile commuters could buy booklets of toll tickets that cost about 8 cents per toll plaza. The full (non-commuter) rate was 25 cents per mainline toll plaza, increased to 50 cents in March 1989, with lower amounts at some exits. In 1989, the exit toll plazas in the City of Richmond at the I-95/I-64/I-195 Bryan Park interchange and at VA-161 Boulevard were removed, thereby making toll-free the I-95 portion of the Turnpike north of Boulevard. The former Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike became completely toll-free on July 1, 1992.The Richmond Metropolitan Authority was formed in 1966 by the General Assembly. The RMA was "a small state agency that was empowered to design, acquire right-of-way, construct, operate, collect tolls, and maintain the Richmond Expressway System." [http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Richmond_Interstate_Expy.html#Expressway_Planning] Eventually, the RMA built and opened the
Powhite Parkway in 1973, and theDowntown Expressway in 1976 as toll roads. The RMA also acquired the Boulevard Bridge. In addition to operating and maintaining three of Richmond's toll roads and bridges, the RMA also built a downtown parking deck, operated commuter buses for a time, and ownsThe Diamond , a sports stadium.VDOT built the Powhite Extension (State Route 76) located in Chesterfield County as a separate toll road which opened in 1988.The public bus systems which had replaced the local and interurban streetcars were operated by public service companies, and were dependent upon passenger fares. As ridership plummeted in the second half of the century,
urban-suburban bus line s began to fail financially. By the early 1970s, only a few suburban lines were left, notably includingBon Air Transit Company extending to the suburb of Bon Air in Chesterfield County and Fairfield Transit Company, extending toSeven Pines in eastern Henrico County. The inner city company, Virginia Transit Company, was converted to become the government-owned Greater Richmond Transit (GRTC) in 1972. Privately-owned commuter operators gradually discontinued services; the last privately-owned suburban public route service was the Mechanicsville Bus Line route, which ended in June 2004.Greyhound Lines and theNational Trailways Bus System consolidated services formerly in downtown Richmond at a new terminal near the Boulevard exit of I-95 andI-64 in the 1980s. Early in the 21st century, the trend of route reductions which began in the 1950s was continuing.Toll roads and Smart Tags
The Boulevard Bridge introduced commuter passes to Richmond in the form of annual permits. These initially took the form of special "topper" (add-on) license plate strips; windshield decals were used later. As stated above, much of I-95 was built as the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, a toll road. Commuters could purchase (much) lower cost passage, leading to local humor to the effect that through traffic from out-of-state was paying for the road, a position founded in some truth. On June 1, 1987, the
Richmond Metropolitan Authority (RMA) introduced toll tokens for use on the Powhite Parkway and the Downtown Expressway. In 1994, The RMA and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) conducted surveys to determine if patrons of the Downtown Expressway, the Powhite Parkway, the Powhite Parkway Extension would supportElectronic Toll Collection (ETC). In late 1996, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation requesting the RMA and VDOT to expedite the implementation of an ETC system. In studying the costs associated with ETC, RMA management determined that a toll increase would be necessary to cover the installation and higher operating expenses. The RMA, along with VDOT, implemented the ETC system --Smart Tag -- on July 1, 1999. The system became interoperable with theE-ZPass toll collection system onOctober 27 2004 , although Richmond Metropolitan Authority owned toll roads -- Boulevard Bridge, the Downtown Expressway, and the Powhite Parkway (excluding the extension) did not begin accepting E-ZPass untilAugust 3 2005 [http://rmaonline.org/Press_room/press_room.htm] ; E-ZPass integration had been delayed due to damages fromTropical Storm Gaston .Today, the following toll roads exist in the Richmond area, and their tolls can all be paid for using Smart Tag/EZ Pass.
*Downtown Expressway in Richmond.
*Powhite Parkway and Powhite Parkway Extension in Richmond and Chesterfield County.
*Boulevard Bridge (the "Nickel Bridge", though it costs 25 cents now) in Richmond
*Pocahontas Parkway in Chesterfield and Henrico County.Sources for this section: [http://www.rmaonline.org/About/faq.htm] [http://www.rmaonline.org/About/history_of_the_rma.htm]Highways and bridges
Interstate highways, expressways
Richmond has an extensive network of
Interstate Highway s, expressways, and state highways which were built to interstate highway standards.The major east-west route is
Interstate 64 (I-64), and the major north-south route isInterstate 95 (I-95).Three-digit Interstates are Interstate 195 (I-195,
Beltline Expressway ) and Interstate 295 (I-295).Another planned route, Interstate 895 (I-895) is currently signed as State Route 895 and operated as toll road under an innovative public-private partnership. It is also known as the Pocahontas Parkway.
The Richmond Metropolitan Authority operates the Downtown Expressway and the Powhite Parkway which are toll roads. State Route 76, a toll road known as the Powhite Parkway Extension, reaches southwest into Chesterfield County between
Chippenham Parkway (State Route 150) and State Route 288, theWorld War II Veterans Memorial Highway .Outer Beltway: a virtual roadway only
The Richmond area does not formally have an outer "
beltway ", at least no combinations of routing so designated, as some of the other major metropolitan areas nearby do, such as Hampton Roads, andNorthern Virginia .However, it has several roads which effectively form major portions of a beltway. Although they do not completely encircle Richmond, these roadways aid in providing alternative routing to circumvent the downtown area for much through traffic as well as offering similar suburb-to-suburb pathways for more local travelers in the greater Richmond-Petersburg metropolitan area.
These highways are:
*Interstate 295 from I-64 west of Richmond southeasterly to State Route 895 east of Richmond (25 miles)
*State Route 288 in the southwest and western areas, between I-95 south of Richmond and I-64 west of the city. (30.7 miles)A full outer beltway loop, approximately 70 miles long, could be designated by combining the preceding major sections with:
*State Route 895 (Pocahontas Parkway) toll road (8.8 mi)
*an existing 5 mile section of I-95 south of Richmond
*an existing 2-mile section of I-64 west of RichmondThe only tolls along such a "virtual beltway" of Richmond would be on the State Route 895 portion, which includes the modern and costly to build high-rise
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge over theshipping channel of the navigable portion of the James River below thePort of Richmond .U.S. highways
Major U.S. highways in the Richmond area:
*U.S. 1 north portion is Washington Highway; south portion is
Jefferson Davis Highway (multiplexed with US-301)
*US-33
*US-60 east of Richmond called Williamsburg Road; west of Richmond the road is known as Midlothian Turnpike
*US-250 Broad Street and Broad Street Road
*U.S. Route 301 north portion is Chamberlayne Ave and Chamberlyane Road; south portion is Jefferson Davis Highway (multiplexed with US-1)
*US-360 east of Richmond called Mechanicsville Turnpike; west of Richmond it is known as Hull Street and Hull Street Roadtate highways
The Richmond area has state highways and secondary routes, some of which are state-designated Virginia byways.
A partial listing of Virginia State Highways include:
*State Route 2 (multiplexed with US-301 in Henrico)
*State Route 5 (aNational Scenic Byway )
*State Route 6 (Patterson Avenue)
*State Route 10 (Broad Rock Road)
*State Route 33 (Nine Mile Road)
*State Route 73 (Parham Road)
*State Route 76 (Powhite Parkway Extension toll road)
*State Route 147 (Cary Street Road, Huguenot road)
*State Route 150 (Chippenham Parkway)
*State Route 161 (south portion also known as Belt Boulevard)
*State Route 195 (short connector)
*State Route 197 (Malvern, Westwood, and Laburnum Avenues)
*State Route 288 (World War II Veterans Memorial Highway)
*State Route 895 (Pocahontas Parkway toll road)Major bridges
The James River bisects the metropolitan area. It enters from the west, but turns due south at downtown Richmond for about 8 miles, before it turns east again.
From the west, the bridges across the James River in the Greater Richmond area are:
*
World War II Veterans Memorial Bridge (VA-288)
*Edward E. Willey Bridge (VA-150)
*Huguenot Memorial Bridge (VA-147)
*Powhite Parkway Bridge (Powhite Parkway and VA-76) (toll bridge)
* CSX A-line railroad bridge (formerly Atlantic Coast Line Railroad)
* Boulevard Bridge (VA-161) (toll bridge, restricted weights)
* Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge (US-1 and US-301)
* Manchester Bridge (US-60)
* Norfolk Southern Railway bridge (formerly Southern Railway)
*Mayo Bridge (US-360)
* CSX S-line railroad bridge (formerly Seaboard Air Line Railroad)
*Interstate 95 James River Bridge (I-95)
* Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge (Pocahontas Parkway and VA-895) (toll bridge)
*Varina-Enon Bridge (I-295)Local public transportation
Bus and paratransit systems
Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) a is a publicly-ownedpublic service company and is the area's publictransit bus provider, using government funded equipment and resources principally provided by theFederal Transit Administration (FTA),Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT), and local funds. It has always been managed, staffed, and operated by a private transit management company. GRTC Transit Services, Inc., the operating company, is a subsidiary of American Transportation Enterprises Inc. (ATE), an ongoing relationship of over 60 years in the community. [http://www.ridegrtc.com/FrontEnd/HTML/index.html]GRTC also provides an express bus to
Petersburg, Virginia where it links up withPetersburg Area Transit (PAT), which is part of the Petersburg city government. PAT has some affiliations with GRTC and serves the Tri-Cities area.Public transportation inGreater Richmond is limited, with GRTC bus routes available only within the city limits and in bordering areas ofHenrico County . Henrico service runs only on weekdays.Chesterfield County ,Hanover County , and theFar West End have no transit service, with the exception of limited state-funded park and ride service fromChesterfield County .GRTC's
paratransit service in Richmond and Henrico County is provided by the CARE service, which is operated under contract by Laidlaw Transit, Inc.Local passenger rail
Although no services of these types are currently operational, Richmond is working on plans for a small
heritage streetcar system in the downtown area. No other local rail services are currently planned.Taxicabs, airport limousine, paratransit
Richmond has numerous
taxicab operators, mostly operated as small businesses. A contractor, Groome Transportation, provides limousine service for individuals and groups between the airport and points in the Richmond area and beyond, including other major airports. several companies offer wheelchair-accessible paratransit service to individuals and small groups.Intercity bus services
Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound Lines and Carolina
Trailways .Apex also provides a "Chinatown bus" to New York City. [http://www.apexbus.com/]Railroads
Passenger rail
Richmond is served by passenger rail service provided by Amtrak, with two railroad stations. Each station receives regular service from north of Richmond from
Washington, DC , Philadelphia, and New York. The suburban "Staples Mill Road Station" is located on a major north-south freight line and receives all service to and from all points south including, Raleigh, Durham, Savannah, Newport News, Williamsburg andFlorida . The historic and recently renovated Main Street Station near downtown Richmond only receives trains bound for Newport News and Williamsburg at this time, due to its track layout. As a result, the Staples Mill Road station receives more service overall.The Department of Rail and Public Transportation of the State of Virginia has studies underway for extending high speed passenger rail service to the
Virginia Peninsula andSouth Hampton Roads areas, as well as a rail connections in Virginia to both theNortheast Corridor and theSoutheast High Speed Rail Corridor . TheTransdominion Express would serve a large portion of the south central regions of the state.Freight railroads
Richmond is served by two major
Class I railroad s,Norfolk Southern (NS) andCSX . The city is also served by theBuckingham Branch Railroad , the state's largestshort line railroad .Rail yard s in Richmond include NS'sShip Yard and CSX'sFulton Yard .Air
Richmond is served by a major commercial
airport and several smallergeneral aviation facilities. Richmond is served by theRichmond International Airport airport codes|RIC|KRIC, located in nearby Sandston, seven miles southeast of Richmond and within an hour drive of historicWilliamsburg, Virginia , RIC airport is served by seven airlines with non-stop flights to 21 destinations and connecting flights to destinations worldwide. In 2004, the airport served approximately 2.5 million passengers; this count is expected to increase significantly in 2006 due to the presence of low-cost carriers AirTran Airways and JetBlue Airways.Richmond International Airport is not served by public transit, other than a little-used GRTC bus route from downtown that runs only five times per day, during the morning and afternoon rush hour Monday through Friday. As is the case everywhere in Richmond, driving to the airport (either by taxicab or private car) is by far the fastest mode of transportation. RIC is approximately a $15 taxi fare from downtown Richmond. Parking is available in long-term lots for $6 per day, the close-in daily garage for $10 per day, and the hourly garage for $2 per hour (first 30 minutes free).
General Aviation service is available at Richmond International and Chesterfield County Airport, located near the intersection of State Routes 10 and 288 near
Chesterfield Court House, Virginia , and Hanover County Airport near Ashland.Ports and waterways
The Port of Richmond (locally known as Deepwater Terminal) offers deep water connections on the navigable portion for the James River east to Hampton Roads, known as the "world's greatest natural harbor", which is located only 18 miles from the
Atlantic Ocean . Shipping to other points on the Chesapeake Bay is also possible.The extant canals of Richmond are no longer used for shipping. However, several portions downtown are used as part of the
Canal Walk , and upstream, portions are used as part of the water systems of the city and counties. A set of locks is located in a small park just east of the downtown area nearTobacco Row .External links
** [http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/departments/portofrichmond/index.aspx Port of Richmond]
** [http://www.vdot.org VDOT]
** [http://www.drpt.state.va.us/default.aspx Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation]
** [http://www.dmv.state.va.us/ Virginia Dept. of Motor Vehicles]
** [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage Amtrak]
** [http://www.vre.org/ Virginia Railway Express]
** [http://www.greyhound.com Greyhound and Carolina Trailways Buses]
** [http://www.sehsr.org/ Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor]
** [http://www.drpt.state.va.us/ Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation]
** [http://www.tdxinfo.org/ Transdominion Express webpage]
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