RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL
Richmond City Council – Richmond City Hall - 900 E. Broad Street, Suite 200 - Richmond, VA 23219 - www.council.richmondva.gov
COUNCIL PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWS ADVISORY
IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO BE FORWARDED AND SHARED
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail First Phase Ribbon Cutting Ceremony & Community Bike Ride to be held
Official opening of a .4 mile stretch of a 1.9 mile planned project: All invited and encouraged to attend
WHAT (Richmond, Virginia) -- A Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail First Phase Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Community Bike Ride will be held to officially mark a significant milestone and achievement of the ongoing community improvement and reclamation initiative for a 1.9 mile area that comprises the Cannon Creek Greenway.
The Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail First Phase Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Community Bike Ride will commemorate the official opening of a .4 mile stretch (Dove Street to Valley Road) of the 1.9 mile planned project.
A community bike ride will commence immediately following the ribbon cutting and will run from Cannon Creek to Shockoe Bottom and Back. This marked course will be about two miles round-trip.
The Ceremony and Bike ride are free and open to the public and all families, residents, organizations and individuals are invited and encouraged to attend and bring their bikes and join in the celebration.
WHEN Saturday, May 5, 2012
10:00 a.m.- Noon
WHERE Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail
Entrance at the Intersection of Dove Street and Richmond-Henrico Turnpike
in the Richmond Gateway 6th District
WHO The Honorable Dwight C. Jones, Mayor of Richmond
The Honorable Ellen F. Robertson, Councilwoman,
Richmond City Council, Gateway 6th District
The Honorable Chris Hilbert, Councilman,
Richmond City Council, Northside 3rd District
Dr. Norman C. Merrifield, Director
Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities
Dr. Charles Price, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club
CONTACT Steve Skinner, Richmond City Council Public Information Manager, at 804.937.1386 (mob) or steven.skinner@richmondgov.com (email)
Dr. Charles Price, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, at 804. 358.0256 or fewmit@comcast.net (email)
Cybelle O’Sullivan-McDaniels, Richmond City Council, Gateway 6th District, at 804.646.7964 (office) or cybelle.o’sullivan@richmondgov.com; www.ellenrobertson.com (website)
BACKGROUND __________________________________________________________________________
Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail Project
The Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail Project is an ongoing community improvement and reclamation initiative for the 1.9 mile area that comprises the Cannon Creek Greenway, which includes a heavily-wooded ravine located adjacent to a section of the north-south Richmond-Henrico Turnpike between Valley Road on the south and Craigie Avenue, located in the Gateway 6th District and Northside 3 District of Richmond.
The goal of the project is to establish a nature, bike and pedestrian trail that includes family-oriented park facilities and a 1.9 mile, 10 foot wide, asphalt-surfaced path. It is envisioned that this project will help to increase the social, economic, and physical revitalization of the Northside and Gateway Voter Districts of Richmond. Plans for the Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway’s include serving as a scenic park and recreational area for the 300 unit, mixed income housing revitalization initiative of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) that will be built nearby. Construction of the RRHA initiative is planned for the near future.
The sidewalk and street intersections of the Greenway’s bicycle and pedestrian trial will connect the business and commercial corridor along E. Brookland Park Boulevard residential neighborhoods, schools, and community centers for ease of access by bicycling or walking. It will also provide an alternative transportation route for bicycle commuting from the residential neighborhoods of Highland Park and Barton Height to the City’s downtown. In addition to its use for family-oriented, recreational activities, the Greenway may also serve as an outdoor environmental laboratory for the science classes of nearby schools.
The Cannon Creek Greenway Project may also be linked to the United States of America East Coast Greenway, which is being built in sections from Main to Florida, and to the Virginia Capital Trail, which would link Richmond to Williamsburg and Jamestown.
Other projects leading up to this work have included two community cleanups, held in 2009 and 2010 to remove unwanted trash and debris and clearing the site of underbrush in 2010 and 2011 by Virginia Army National Guard, 180th Horizontal Construction Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, with the assistance of the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities and the Richmond Department of Public Works. The work of the Virginia Army National Guard, 180th Horizontal Construction Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, has been critical to the success of this community project. The work performed by the Virginia Army National Guard in 2011 is valued at more than $275,000 and was provided to Richmond at no charge.
The Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail Project is supported by The Honorable Ellen F. Robertson, Councilwoman, Richmond City Council Gateway 6th District, The Honorable Christopher A. Hilbert, Councilman, Richmond City Council Northside 3rd District, Richmond Department of Public Works, Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, Virginia Army National Guard, Southern Barton Heights Community Association, Virginia Chapter Sierra Club, Richmond Public Schools, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Green Park Civic Association, Highland View Civic Association, Chestnut Hill Action Team, Battery Park Civic Association and the Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design - Landscape Architecture Program.
Timeline ________________________________________________________________________________
The following is a summarized Progress Timeline:
2008 Planning for the features of the Greenway began in 2008 and has included a series of community meetings and workshops involving neighborhood civic associations, elected Councilmembers, residents of the Highland Park and Barton Heights communities, Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation, Richmond Department of Community Development, Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA), and several environmental and recreation organizations.
2009 Saturday, January 24, 2009,
A Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Community Cleanup was established to remove unwanted trash and debris from the Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway. The cleanups have been extremely successful in helping transform the area, which, over the years, had been used as an illegal dump site. The cleanup included more than 200 volunteers who cleaned up 20 tons of trash, which included 400 tires.
October, 2009
A stakeholders’ Planning “Charrette” was conducted to decide on the features of the reclaimed Cannon Creek Greenway by faculty and students of the Virginia Tech Landscape Architectural Program. The Richmond Government Administration also completed an environmental study of the Greenway site began conducting an engineering study of the area and hired an engineering consultant contractor to study of the proposed alternative routes of the Greenway’s bike and pedestrian trail.
December 1, 2009
Richmond submitted an “Innovative Readiness Training Request for Military Assistance Application to the Virginia Office of the Office and the Virginia Adjutant General to the Virginia Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Reserve Affairs. The request was for them to establish, as a training function of the Virginia National Guard, the clearing of undergrowth and construction of the Cannon Creek Greenway’s bike/pedestrian trail and park by the Virginia Army National Guard, 180th Horizontal Construction Company, 276th Engineer Battalion.
2010 Saturday, March 20, 2010
Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway Community Cleanup was held to remove unwanted trash and debris from the Richmond Cannon Creek Greenway. The cleanup included an estimated 100 community volunteers.
July 22 - July 27, 2010
The First Phase of the Project was begun to clear undergrowth in the Cannon Creek Greenway. This included approximately 25 Citizen Soldier Engineers from the Powhatan-based Virginia Army National Guard - 180th Horizontal Construction Company, 276th Engineer Battalion and the assistance of the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities and the Richmond Department of Public Works. This project included the clearing of sizable undergrowth and grading the land for a walking and biking trail. The Petersburg-based Virginia Army National Guard - Forward Support Company of the 276th Engineer Battalion provided logistical support for the units on site to keep them fed and fueled. The work performed was valued at more than $20,000 and was provided to Richmond at no charge. The use of heavy and light engineerng equipment on the site helps provide “real world” training in preparing Soldiers for the Defense Support to Civilian Authorities mission in responding in the aftermath of devastating hurricanes, floods, tornados and ice/snow events.
2011 July 17- July 27, 2011
Approximately 75 Citizen Soldier Engineers from the Powhatan-based Virginia Army National Guard - 180th Horizontal Construction Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, with the assistance of the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities and the Richmond Department of Public Works, cleared sizable undergrowth and grading the land for a pedestrian and biking trail along Cannon Creek. The Petersburg-based Virginia Army National Guard - Forward Support Company of the 276th Engineer Battalion provided logistical support for the units on site to keep them fed and fueled. The work performed was valued at more than $275,000 and was provided to Richmond citizens at no charge. The use of heavy and light engineer equipment on the site helps provide “real world” training in preparing Soldiers for the Defense Support to Civilian Authorities mission in responding in the aftermath of devastating hurricanes, floods, tornados and ice/snow events.
July 26, 2011
The Honorable Ellen F. Robertson, Councilwoman, Richmond City Council, Gateway 6th District and the community surrounding the Cannon Creek Greenway held a thank you dinner and celebration for Virginia Army National Guard - 180th Horizontal Construction Company, 276th Engineer Battalion. The celebration dinner was sponsored and hosted by the community in appreciation of their outstanding work and included a community tour of the site. The work performed was valued at more than $275,000 and was provided to Richmond citizens at no charge.
Dove Street Redevelopment ______________________________________________________________
Once the location of Dove Court, a public housing complex, operated by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA), plans for the area include building new mixed-income rental and for-sale housing on the former Dove Court site and the site of the former Carrington Gardens-Northridge Apartments. It will also include redevelopment of a former Virginia Army National Guard Armory building located there and the creation of for-sale housing.
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Steven R. Skinner, APR
Council Public Information Manager
RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL
OFFICE OF THE COUNCIL CHIEF OF STAFF
Richmond City Hall
900 E. Broad Street, Suite 305
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804.646.6052 (office)
804.335.4054 (mobile)
804.937.1386 (home/mobile)
804.646.5468 (fax)
steven.skinner@richmondgov.com (email)
www.council.richmondva.gov(website)
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MISSION The mission of Richmond City Council
is to represent citizens in creating and amending
local laws, providing government policy and
oversight, and approving the city budget.
VISION Richmond City Council is committed to
creating a vibrant community that is a great place
to live, work, learn, play, visit and raise a family.