THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014

GRTC, along with the City of Richmond and Henrico County, is preparing to introduce RVA’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along a 7.6 mile corridor from Rocketts Landing to Willow Lawn, in October 2017. 

BRT buses will run frequently and make fewer stops, serving 14 stations that offer more amenities than traditional bus stops. To improve trip times, riders will pay for their trip before boarding the bus, using off-board payment stations.

GRTC will unveil the name of the BRT service, logo and vehicle design in Spring 2015.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

The City of Richmond achieved another milestone toward becoming a bike and pedestrian friendly city by adopting a Complete Streets Policy in October. Complete Streets is a transportation policy and design approach that helps make communities healthier, more livable, economically competitive and resilient. They are streets designed and operated to be safe, comfortable and convenient for all users regardless of age, ability or mode of travel.

Adopting a Complete Streets Policy was a recommendation of the Mayor’s Pedestrian, Bicycling and Trails Commission, the City’s RVAgreen Sustainability Plan, Richmond Connects and the Green City Commission. The policy outlines the design and construction standards for sidewalks, public ways and public rights-of-way and requires that City transportation improvement projects provide appropriate accommodations to promote safe usage for all users.

The City Administration is working to develop guidelines for implementing complete streets in the City of Richmond as required by the City’s Complete Streets Policy. As detailed in Resolution 2014-R172-170, the City Administration has 12 months to develop implementation guidelines and incorporate those into the City’s “Right-of-Way Design and Construction Standards Manual.”

FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014

Keep Virginia Beautiful (KVB) hosted a cleanup in June 2014 in honor of Pedaling For A Cleaner America. Volunteers picked up litter from the park along Dock Street and the start of Virginia Capital Trail near 17th Street, continued to 14th Street and proceeded across Mayo Bridge.

John Deuel, the recently retired recycling coordinator for the City of Norfolk and Keep Norfolk Beautiful, has been rode his bike across America beginning in April 2014 to raise funds and awareness for Keep America Beautiful and bicycle safety for kids. He did cleanups at some of his stops across America but Richmond’s event was a focal point.

With the World Road Cycling Championships coming to Richmond in September 2015, the Virginia Capital Trail and the numerous biking initiatives growing, KVB is hoping to capitalize on the biking craze. Partners in this endeavor were the Richmond Clean City Commission, Richmond 2015, Virginia Capital Trail, City of Richmond Sustainability–RVA Green, James River Association and the many biking groups across the RVA region.

Keep Virginia Beautiful’s mission is to engage and unite Virginians to improve our natural and scenic environment. Since 1953, KVB has been bringing people together to build vibrant communities through litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling, beautification, and education. Get involved with KVB to help deliver a positive and lasting impact by visiting www.keepvirginiabeautiful.org.

TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2014

Natural Organic Process Enterprises (NOPE) collects compostable waste from institutions, restaurants, schools, and businesses, and through an agreement with Enrichmond, turns the waste into compost for use by Enrichmond's participating partners. Companies that qualify but have no use for the compost get credits instead, and they can use the credits to donate compost to non-profits.

Recently, for instance, Watkins Nursery matched the Hilton Garden Hotel's donation to the Richmond Grows Gardens program for use at the Crafty Kids community garden at 404 Broad Rock Road and the Owl Orchard community garden at 801 W. 44th Street. The goal is to get all the community gardens as much compost as they need.

Organic waste recycling is a growing trend and is part of a comprehensive sustainability plan. Organic waste is anything that once lived or grew. NOPE focuses primarily on food waste and provides the logistical know-how for companies and institutions to support organic recycling by separating food waste from recyclable and non-recyclable waste. NOPE provides instruction and materials to partners to get them started, schedules and provides small batch collection and transportation to accredited compost facilities.

The Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Richmond composts all of its food waste, supports recycling projects in local schools, and collects used soap for recycling in support of international mission projects. The hotel won the 2013 Virginia Green Travel Star award.

TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2014

Richmond won the East Coast region of the Dig This competition sponsored by Bell Helmets. The local project is one of three nationwide to receive an equal share of $100,000.

Developers of the Richmond Regional Ride Center will use the money to rehabilitate 15 miles of existing mountain bike trail and construct an additional 20 miles at Pocahontas State Park, offering trails at a variety of skill levels. That would help efforts to designate the area an International Mountain Bicycling Association Ride Center, of which there are only 17 currently in the country.

The city collaborated with the state and Chesterfield County to be designated as an IMBA Ride Center, the first urban-focused ride center by virtue of our great--and expanding--mountain bike trails. Pocahontas State Park will see additional trails, including some designed specifically for access by hand cyclists--with an emphasis on paralyzed vets. Getting greenways and on-road routes built will also be central to linking these amenities in Richmond and Chesterfield.