HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Henrico County Government released findings from a public feedback survey on the state of safety along Dumbarton Road between Staples Mill Road and Brook Road.
Kimley-Horn conducted the study on behalf of the Henrico County Department of Public Works in an effort to identify potential measures to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
A public feedback survey was launched on February 21, 2022, and was closed on March 13, 2022. According to Henrico County, 66% of survey participants felt that Dumbarton Road did not address their safety concerns.
Three conceptual options to improve cyclist and pedestrian experiences were also presented in the survey.
The survey participants preferred “Concept B,” with some respondents noting that keeping bicycle traffic in a single lane in the same direction as the flow of vehicle traffic would be preferred, according to Henrico County. 71% of respondents preferred the proposed improvement concepts over existing conditions.
A majority of respondents also said they would be more inclined to bike if either concept B or C were adopted.
Henrico County Government reports that a total of 257 open-ended responses were submitted and summarized into seven categories; speed, safety, congestion, support for cyclists, support for pedestrians, maintaining the existing roadway and other.
Common concerns that were raised in the report fall under two main issues, congestion and safety:
Congestion along Dumbarton Road
- Traffic is an existing issue — specifically near Staples Mill Road, Lakeside Avenue and Azalea Avenue.
- The wait time for turning onto Dumbarton Road can be excessive at times.
- Spaces for delivery trucks and other vehicles should be incorporated into the design of the road so that they do not block travel lanes.
Safety along Dumbarton Road
- Drivers often speed along the entire corridor.
- Drivers often run red lights at the traffic signals between Byrdhill Road and Hermitage Road.
- There is a lack of marked pedestrian crossings and the north side of Dumbarton Road lacks sidewalks.
- A desire for physical barriers to separate vehicles and cyclists.
- Limited visibility at the bridge near Staples Mill Road is hazardous for cyclists and pedestrians
According to a tweet from the official Henrico County Government account, 50% of respondents like the idea of adding buffered bike lanes.
“The next steps will be refining the preferred design concept to increase connectivity to existing and planned multimodal facilities in the area,” a release by the Henrico County Government reads.
For more information, visit the Henrico County website here.
