A tale of two villages

 

            On Monday, November 8, Goochland County held a kick-off meeting for a planning initiative to take a close look at the transportation infrastructure needs for both Courthouse and Centerville Village.

            First, a bit of background. Courthouse Village is the closest thing Goochland County has to a "real" village. It has government buildings, including a post office, library, court complex, administration building, schools, churches, parks, Reynolds Community College, retail, and other businesses. There is a "there there." It's population, especially within walking distance of the main drag, River Road West, is growing.

Courthouse Village 

            Most of the comments during the session were directed at Courthouse Village. People live there. Residents contended that there is a vital and immediate need for more and better sidewalks. Off road connectors between River Road West and Tucker Park, which straddles Rt. 522 on the north bank of the James River for both walkers and bikers are needed so they do not have to "play in traffic" while recreating. Interest for a web of trails connecting River Road West to Hidden Rock Park was also expressed.

            Traffic along two-lane River Road West through the heart of Courthouse Village was pegged by a speaker in the neighborhood of 80,000 daily—yes daily—including many large trucks. Crosswalks are few and far between, although VDOT seems to be studying this issue. The signalized crosswalk at the intersection of Sandy Hook Road and River Road West is a big improvement. However, sidewalks there still do not connect to the shopping center on Fairground Road, or even to the Farmers Market site opposite the sports complex forcing pedestrians to walk either in the road or on yards.

            Running groups must train very early in the morning to avoid traffic. Cyclists would like to be able to get to Tucker Park without "playing chicken" with vehicular traffic. Several people contended that bike lanes are needed to accommodate the burgeoning numbers of cyclists on our narrow roads.

            Residents of Courthouse Village are already using the area for recreational purposes and want more and better ways to do so. Rural Hill, the large subdivision recently approved behind Reed Marsh opposite the admin building, included walking trails in its design that seem to be designated for public use.

            Then there is Centerville, (see map) which is a whole different animal. For the record, Manakin Sabot is a zip code. Manakin is on Rt.6 by the Luck Stone headquarters. Addresses in the Centerville Village includes zip codes for Manakin Sabot, Rockville, which is in Hanover County, and Richmond.

Centerville Village

            Unless you are patronizing the Food Lion or the few businesses and restaurants on Broad Street Road between Ashland and Manakin Roads—considered the village core—Centerville is a place you drive through to get somewhere else. The portion of Centerville east of Rt. 288 has been absorbed, at least attitudinally, by Short Pump. Avery Point, the mammoth continuing care community under construction behind the Notch Apartments, seems so ashamed that it is located in Goochland, that it advertises as being in Short Pump.

            Unlike Courthouse Village, there isn't much "there there" in Centerville. Residential areas located in the Village, including the relatively new Parkes at Saddle Creek and Centerville, Reader's Branch, older ones like Hickory Haven, Sammary Forest, south of Broad Street Road and Wingmead to the north, are self-contained subdivisions lacking sidewalks on main roads leading to the commercial areas. Apartments in the Notch, opposite the Wawa, do have sidewalks that connect with Broad Street Road, but they head east toward Short Pump.

            Manakin Towne, the mixed-use project approved last year, located north of Broad Street Road between Manakin Road and Plaza Drive, has the potential to bring a sense of place to Centerville, but is still on the drawing board.

            The closest thing to a sidewalk in the Centerville core is an uninviting concrete strip on the north side of Broad Street Road. Has anyone ever seen people walking there? Crossing Broad Street Road in Centerville, even in a car, can be tricky thanks to the ill-advised hard median installed when the road was widened about a decade ago. This "improvement" effectively bisected the village core.

            In spite of dire warnings that Centerville will be overrun with development, there are still cornfields in its commercial core. New businesses are locating east of Rt.288. Given the traffic and the nature of those businesses, sidewalks connecting them do not seem to be a high priority item or make much sense.

            What could give Centerville more of an identity? Suggestions included small parks with benches where people could gather.

            An east end trail system from Broad Street Road to Rt.  6 following the Tuckahoe Creek Service District trunk lines along Tuckahoe Creek has been in the works for a while. According to Jo Ann Hunter, Deputy County Administrator who oversees community and economic development and public utilities, VDOT funding for a portion of that trail has been secured and it is in the design phase.

            Some speakers suggested that Goochland connect its trail system with regional trails and add commercial opportunities along the way to generate sales tax revenue for the county. They were not specific on what sort of commerce would be appropriate. Breweries, wineries, bike shops, and restaurants might qualify. The first phase of the east end trail system will run from the now closed West Creek Emergency Center to Hardywood Park Craft Brewery on West Creek Parkway.

            Public transit was also discussed. Additional Park and ride lots have been on the county transportation plan for a while. Extension of GRTC bus routes to the Sheltering Arms Hospital opposite the Wawa was discussed.

            Micro transit, which seemed like a group Uber concept, where several people traveling a similar route would share a multi passenger vehicle smaller than a bus. This would be app controlled.

            Public transit in an area like Goochland seems tricky to implement because most people would need to drive somewhere to catch a bus. Would there be enough people using the same route to justify the expense of a bus route? If so, would the schedule accommodate people with non traditional work hours?

            The golden age of public transit may have come and gone. when settlement patterns were arranged in a hub and spokes configuration—people lived in the spokes and worked in the hub—this made a lot of sense. As jobs are less concentrated in city centers, it becomes more difficult to plan transit routes for suburb-to-suburb commutes. Would someone who lives in Goochland and works in Chesterfield, for instance, need to go into Richmond and change buses to travel south of the James? It might be a lot easier just to drive there.

            This was the first of hopefully, many discussions about the future of Centerville and Courthouse Village. This is not the first time these areas have been targeted for long term planning. Both have been the topic of graduate planning dissertations that were largely ignored.

            These conversations will explore complex and important issues for development in Centerville and Courthouse Village. Please pay attention.