Mad Biondi, Contributing Writer
The Richmond Department of Transportation via press release announced a two-phase plan with 700 quick-build improvements targeting intersections identified as statistically dangerous for pedestrians.
The installations include high-visibility crosswalks and the introduction of scramble intersections, allowing pedestrians from all sides to cross. Speed tables, centerline hardening and turn hardening installations ensure more controlled turning and speed. Richmond announced 244 different locations for these solutions.
Each phase consists of 350 installations, with Phase 1occurring in Fall 2026. Phase 2 is estimated to be completed in Fall 2027.
Pedestrian safety was the top concern in the 2026 VCU Perception of Safety Survey at 57%.
Richmonders boast some of the most daily driving in the city, with 2 million cars passing through campus per month.
“This is an open campus,” VCU Police Lt. Greer said, “This isn’t a campus where it’s enclosed, you’re going from class to class. You’re in the middle — the heart of the city. We doubled our traffic division because of that need.”
Lt. Greer said the number of contributors when planning, involving the city, VCU planners, RPD, VCUPD, and the DMV.
The RDOT uses data from the High Injury Network (HIN), an identification of where pedestrians face the most risk, alongside police data to designate the construction locations.
The department cites Laurel St.’s intersections with Cathedral and Franklin as a result of previous collaboration between the police department survey and RDOT and an example of scramble intersections and turn-hardening.
W. Broad St. within the Monroe Park Campus is among the locations on the HIN facing improvement at multiple intersections, such as Goshen St, Gilmer St and N. Pine St.
Second year student Mari Ramirez-Garcia expressed feeling danger as a pedestrian on Broad St, particularly when accessing bus stops.
“It’s a significant passage for drivers but it is open for people to walk through. I think it either has to be more closed off or there has to be an alternative passage for them,” Ramirez-Garcia said.
According to Michael Sawyer, a Richmond City Transportation Engineer, Crash Modification Factors calculate how effective installations will be at reducing crashes.
VCU Police spokesperson Jake Burns said VCU Police use the Perception Safety survey to inform operations and planning. He noted lighting, officer visibility and improved communication as a result of the survey.
“While the scope and timeline of each project varies, some projects see results quickly. For example, VCU Police speed studies show a noticeable drop in vehicle speeds after the installation of speed tables (humps).”
On-campus traffic summons increased 154% from last year, totaling 4,511 traffic summons, according to VCU News.
This installation furthers RDOT’s Vision Zero commitment, a pedestrian-focused initiative that proposes all traffic-related deaths are preventable. “Richmond’s goal is to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030,” Sawyer said.
The increased focus on pedestrian safety follows Mayor Danny Avula’s acceleration of the Vision Zero response as a result of 13 pedestrian deaths in 2025.