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Downtown

Near-record road deaths may compel Va. to spend 15% of highway safety dollars on walking and biking

In 2022, the number of road fatalities in the commonwealth broke 1,000 for the first time in 15 years, with people walking and biking comprising a disproportionate share of deaths. However, late last month House Republicans killed Roem’s proposal to dedicate 10% of Virginia’s budget surplus to safety improvements.

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By Wyatt Gordon

Since last fall, crashes on Sudley Road have claimed the lives of Del. Danica Roem’s constituents just last week, in December and twice in September. Add in the two pedestrians recently run over and killed by drivers on adjacent roads in her Prince William County district, and it’s easy to understand why the Northern Virginia lawmaker chose transportation safety as one of her top legislative priorities this year.

In 2022, the number of road fatalities in the commonwealth broke 1,000 for the first time in 15 years, with people walking and biking comprising a disproportionate share of deaths. However, late last month House Republicans killed Roem’s proposal to dedicate 10% of Virginia’s budget surplus to safety improvements. With the danger on our roadways reaching near-record levels, why isn’t the General Assembly prioritizing transportation safety?

‘Dead people don’t benefit from tax breaks’

One of the more unexpected results of people staying home to avoid COVID was that empty roads allowed dangerous drivers to go wild, sending the sum of traffic deaths — and especially of pedestrians — sky high. After Virginia witnessed 968 people die on its roadways in 2021, Roem decided to go after additional safety dollars last year and introduced HB 546 that would have required that 10% of any General Fund surplus be invested in roadway safety. Since Virginia is a rather fiscally frugal state, the proposal would have resulted in millions more dollars each year going to improve transportation infrastructure.

Instead of passing Roem’s proposal, the General Assembly actually cut $135 million from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund when it eliminated the grocery tax last year. A minimum $437 million plan from Gov. Youngkin to suspend the gas tax for several months, which would have caused an even larger hit to transportation funding, was also defeated in 2022. The focus on giveaways over increased investments in safety only angered Roem further.

“Dead people don’t benefit from tax breaks,” she said. “How dare anyone claim we have a transportation surplus, when I’ve got constituents getting hurt and killed on roadways where we know for a fact that the infrastructure is the reason that those crashes are caused in the first place, we have a plan to do something about it and we’re not funding it because we get told we don’t have the money?”

After spending the last year in conversation with Virginia Department of Transportation Commissioner Stephen C. Birch, Roem modeled HB 2379 — her 2023 version of her transportation safety funding proposal — on two existing mechanisms that transfer a portion of any General Fund surplus to the state’s rainy day fund and a water quality fund. Despite her efforts and a lack of opposition, late last month the bill was killed on a party-line vote in a House transportation subcommittee.

“I’m trying to find a way to fund transportation without cutting other programs or raising taxes by using a budget surplus to keep our constituents alive,” Roem said. “What less offensive way is there to make the case that we are chronically, severely underfunding transportation to our constituents’ detriment and deaths? We have lost over the last four years more than 3,500 people on Virginia roadways. Since I’ve been in office how many thousands of people have died?”

A federal fix?

Official calculations from the Department of Motor Vehicles are still underway; however, at least 1,010 people died on Virginia roads last year. The final count of traffic fatalities should be confirmed in the coming weeks, but right now “it appears that pedestrian deaths may exceed 15% of total traffic deaths in 2022,” according to Marshall Herman, VDOT’s director of communications.

If that statistic is confirmed, Virginia will be required to spend at least 15% of its Highway Safety Improvement Program dollars on bike and pedestrian projects going forward in order to comply with the Vulnerable Road User Special Rule introduced via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or else return that funding to the federal government.

The new rule is a huge shift from the previous system under which states would submit non-binding fatality reduction targets that a third of states didn’t even try to comply with. But the $15.6 billion over five years dedicated to road safety is not nearly enough to make a difference, according to advocates like Beth Osborne of Transportation for America, a national transportation reform group.

“Highway Safety Improvement dollars constitute just 6% of overall federal transportation funding, which makes it a minority of the funding VDOT receives,” she said. “That’s change behind the cushions. Even if VDOT says they are going to dedicate those dollars to vulnerable users and spends it on things unlikely to improve the safety of vulnerable users, that probably would pass muster anyway. The Secretary of Transportation can rethink transportation all he or she wants, but the law is the law, and it doesn’t give him much discretion over how highway funding is used.”

Even a 2021 memo issued by the Federal Highway Administration encouraging states to focus Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding on safety improvements and road and bridge maintenance resulted in congressional controversy that continues to simmer after several senators got involved last spring.

“The notion that safety and state of repair would be prioritized was the most offensive thing in the world,” Osborne said. “Now you can’t even cross your fingers and wish super hard that people would fill potholes and make things safer. The Biden administration took a very weak step forward and got their heads cut off. Safety is not anybody’s priority and especially not in Congress.”

Can we fix it?

Unfortunately, Virginia is not alone in its transportation safety crisis. In 2021, 42,915 Americans died due to traffic violence, marking a 16-year high. Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has yet to release its 2022 totals, an additional 31,785 Americans died on the country’s roads in just the first nine months of the year, a 0.2% decline over 2021.

Initial totals from the DMV, however, show a worsening situation in the commonwealth, where road fatalities actually increased 4.1% over 2021. Of the 1,010 people taken by traffic violence in Virginia in 2022, 182 were walking or biking when they were killed, a 19.4% increase over the previous year. Out of the 171 pedestrians killed, 60.2% of the total were aged 51 or older according to data from the DMV’s Traffic Records Electronic Data System.

To Brantley Tyndall, president of the Virginia Bicycling Federation, such shocking statistics are red flags, warning that our transportation networks have a problem.

“That is a sign that our infrastructure system needs to change,” he said. “It wasn’t these people’s first time around the block. These people were walking where they have walked their entire lives, and they were killed because traffic is moving faster and drivers are that much less cognizant, whether they are impaired, distracted, or who knows.”

Virginia’s ban on holding a phone while driving was supposed to help reverse the tragic trend toward greater traffic violence, but the “hands free” policy didn’t take effect until July of 2020 — “a rough time to have rolled out a new law,” according to Janet Brooking, the executive director of Drive Smart Virginia. A recent letter from the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission revealed 21,553 charges of violating that law in 2021 alone, but it’s impossible to say what impact the policy may have had in preventing road death totals from being even higher.

What definitely saves lives, experts say, is infrastructure. One of the most promising policy changes to this effect in recent years is a Washington bill that requires the state department of transportation to “incorporate the principles of complete streets with facilities that provide street access with all users in mind, including pedestrians, bicyclists and public transportation users” for state transportation projects costing $500,000 or more.

Perhaps in recognition of the worsening road fatality crisis, last summer the Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to appropriate $672.4 million through fiscal year 2028 to accelerate road safety improvements across Virginia. In January, the CTB also allocated $24.47 million to help fix Route 28 in Prince William County — the issue that propelled Roem to run for her delegate seat in 2018.

Such small steps in the right direction haven’t convinced Roem to drop her dream of expanded transportation safety funding. Indeed, she is committed to introducing a version of this policy before the General Assembly every year until it passes.

“We still have hundreds of millions of dollars of unmet needs just in my district,” she said. “Just because we have some fixes coming in, do not think for a moment that the system is better. It shouldn’t take fatalities for us to make our roadways safer for vehicular traffic, bicyclists and pedestrians.”

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Community

Street and Lane Closures – E Broad at N 10th Street

The work is scheduled to start April 3rd and wrap up May 26th.

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WHO: City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (https://twitter.com/DPUStreetNews)

WHAT: Drainage Project including installing new stormline

WHEN: Beginning Monday, April 3, 2023 through May 26, 2023

WHERE: E. Broad Street at N. 10th Street in the Biotech/MCV District of Downtown, between E. Broad and E. Marshall streets.

PROJECT SCOPE:

  • Phase 1 April 3 – 11 7:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. – N. 10th Street closed between E. Broad and E. Marshall
  • Phase 2 April 12 – 21 7:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. – N. 10th Street closed between E. Broad and E. Marshall
  • Phase 3 April 24 – May 12 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – N. 10th Street lane closures between E. Clay and E. Marshall (24 hours)
  • Phase 4 May 15 – 26 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – N. 10th Street lane closures between E. Marshall to E. Broad and E. Broad from N. 10th to N. 11th

Sidewalk will be closed on N. 10th between E. Broad to E. Marshall

Note: Work is anticipated to take place during the dates and times above. Impacts will occur during work times, except where noted.

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Downtown

Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU celebrates ribbon-cutting of new Children’s Tower

When combined with the adjacent outpatient Children’s Pavilion, the Children’s Tower completes a city block – nearly 1 million square feet – dedicated to caring for kids

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Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU (CHoR) on Tuesday celebrated the ribbon-cutting for its Children’s Tower, Richmond’s new home for pediatric inpatient, emergency and trauma care. Nearly 300 families, elected officials, hospital team members, donors and community partners gathered to celebrate the completely kid-focused, $420 million facility which will officially open on April 30.

The Children’s Tower was designed for and with the help of families and providers in the community, based on extensive research into best practices in pediatric health care. When combined with the adjacent outpatient Children’s Pavilion, the Children’s Tower completes a city block – nearly 1 million square feet – dedicated to caring for kids. The 16-story building houses the region’s only Level 1 pediatric trauma center and emergency department with 24/7 access to any pediatric specialist a child may need, along with family amenities and 72 all-private acute and intensive care rooms that are among the most spacious in the country. 

“This is a great day for Virginia and our capital city of Richmond. Not only do we have the best and brightest medical providers – many of whom have graduated from our outstanding Virginia medical schools – but patients can get care from them in state-of-the-art facilities while remaining close to home,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said. “This Children’s Tower will help ensure that our youngest Virginians can grow into our future leaders, care providers and difference makers.”

CHoR broke ground on the Children’s Tower in June 2019 as part of a comprehensive plan to address the needs of the community and state.

“I had the pleasure of attending the groundbreaking for the Children’s Tower and what a difference a few years has made,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said. “As I watched this building rise from City Hall next door, I thought about the kids and families from our city and beyond who will benefit from the beautiful space and dedicated teams inside. Children are our future, and the future of Richmond is bright.”

The Children’s Tower project was completed on time, despite obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The VCU Children’s Tower represents a commitment to our children and communities that we’re putting their needs first,” said VCU and VCU Health System President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “After many years of our team’s focus on addressing the needs of children in a comprehensive way, I’m so grateful that we’re able to bring together comprehensive children’s health services and research into the early, formative aspects of human development, including the causes and cures of disease and development. CHoR will serve children and families in Richmond and across the Mid-Atlantic and beyond, and I’m grateful to every team member and donor who helped make this a reality.”

Providers at CHoR care for both the most common and complex injuries and illnesses, last year serving more than 70,000 families from across the commonwealth, nearly all 50 states and outside the U.S. The Children’s Tower is expanding inpatient bed capacity and emergency room access by 40 percent on opening day. Access to imaging and services from the Level 1 Children’s Surgery Center will also increase. The building includes space for growth to meet future needs.

In addition to pediatric-specific operating rooms, imaging suites and trauma bays equipped with the latest advancements for optimal medical care, the Children’s Tower creates a kid-friendly patient experience with added convenience. It is located one turn off Interstate-95 and offers free onsite parking, including valet for families visiting the emergency room.

Playrooms, teen lounges, a family gym, interactive installations, performance space and family lounges are among the amenities that will be available on opening day to make the environment more comfortable for kids and families. The cafeteria offers kid-friendly dining options, including brick oven pizza, while the James River theme includes colors and animal mascots to differentiate each floor and help with navigating the building. Additional amenities will open later this summer, including a RMHC In-Hospital-House, multifaith chapel and indoor children’s garden.

Take a virtual tour of the Children’s Tower and meet the James River themed animal mascots at chrichmond.org/childrenstower.

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Community

Human Trash and an Osprey

Don’t throw your garbage on the ground ya heathens.

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The stuff dangling off the osprey’s talon is trash that some human left. The bird is getting around fine now and hopefully the string will break off before the bird becomes entangled. Don’t litter, pickup what you can and for god’s sake don’t release balloons.

This article is 5 years old and the situation hasn’t improved.

More Plastic in the World Means More Plastic in Osprey Nests – National Audubon Society

Human waste routinely finds its way into birds’ nests, and it is especially common with Ospreys. The birds use a huge variety of materials to build their nests, including sticks, bark, sod, grass, vines and algae. Plastic items mimic the appearance of many of these natural building supplies, and Osprey find plastic trash mixed in with their natural nesting materials in beach wrack lines, making it hard for them to distinguish what’s what, Wurst says. “While Osprey see plastic as a useful resource for them to build their nests from, they don’t see the potential danger.”

By 2012, Wurst realized the problem was worsening, so he began removing the trash and collecting it to raise awareness of the issue. Wurst’s Osprey nest-trash collection includes all kinds of plastic items, including unusual finds such as plastic shovels, flags, and polyester hats. But he believes the most dangerous and deadly items are the most common ones he finds in nests: plastic ribbon from balloons and monofilament fishing line. “Trash like monofilament, ribbon, and string can easily entangle a foot, leg, or wing of an adult or young Osprey,” he says. In addition, “single use plastic bags or other plastic sheeting can choke or smother them.”

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