Part of Forest Hill Ave to be closed for 90 days
Bringing it down to one Westbound lane between 7:30 AM and 4:00 PM and sections of one Eastbound lane.
Update #1 — May 29, 2014; 2:46 PM
The following email was forwarded to me today that gives a bit more information.
I am the Operations Manager of construction in the Utility Dept. overseeing this project. I am not sure what the Hills & Heights post stated or what each TV station reported but our construction sequence beginning later today is to close sections of the inside Eastbound lane from Powhite Parkway- East 24 hrs a day.
During construction activities the inside Westbound lane will be closed between the hours of 7:30 am to 4 pm. If you have any questions or comments please let me know.
Thanks
Nick Georges
City of Richmond Virginia
Operations Manager Construction -Public Utilities
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Original — May 28, 2014
Well this should be fun, hope you like traffic with your summer heat. From Richmond Department of Public Utilities Facebook.
Beginning Thursday, May 29, 2014 and lasting for approximately three months, DPU will be closing sections of Forest Hill Avenue between Powhite Parkway and Jahnke Road for natural gas main renewal work. Westbound traffic will be limited to one lane in the area of construction between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm.
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Richard Hayes
When Richard isn’t rounding up neighborhood news, he’s likely watching soccer or chasing down the latest and greatest craft beer.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Ugh, do they have to start this at 7:30? Why not 9 to miss most of rush hour? They could extend the project a couple of weeks to make up for the shorter day.
Well, melissa, because typical labor rules in the construction industry mean you pay people in 8 hour shifts, so if they didn’t start work until 9, then they’d be paying for 8 hours a day and only getting about 6 hours of work. So it would still take an extra 3-4 weeks, but it would also cost about 30% more!
weird. I thought it would be eastbound because they have the sign on the eastbound side.
Aww man. I was hoping this was for repaving and bike lane installation.
I’m with Jeff E.. When are they planning on doing the repaving project and the median project in between food lion and the Powhite overpass? I’ve not heard anything on this in a while.
If it is “Westbound”, why is the big Flashing sign posted on the EASTBOUND side of the road just passed the Powhite entrance. Please clarify, since I travel this route everyday to work. Thanks!
According to the supervisor who’s number we called from the utility flyer….they will begin from the powhite and work toward jahnke. He mentioned their work will involve the center lane. If your sidewalk is affected by gas line work they will be diligent in replacing grass. He was very interested in calling us back and giving us further info. I am hoping this will encourage speeders to take a different route….and maybe forever. One can only hope.
Why can they not do this at night?
Oh wait…I thought it was eastbound too, because of the sign. Lane closures on the westbound side don’t affect morning rush hour as much, so I retract my comment. But if a shorter day isn’t possible, then a time-shifted workday to avoid rush hour would be good. Sounds like the current schedule will work pretty well for ending before afternoon rush hour.
It makes sense it would be westbound. Isn’t that the side that had lane closures last year for gas work closer to Crossroads? But why is the sign on the eastbound side?
Westbound traffic on forest hill ave is just as busy as eastbound if not more so on my part of forest hill in the morning. It makes crossing traffic quite a feat.
Angela, I guess that makes sense with people heading to the Powhite.
According to the DPU Facebook post about this, the eastbound lane will be closed the entire time and the westbound lane will be closed during the workday. Sounds like a serious quality of life issue in the Forest Hill area. Worst for neighbors in the closure zone, but it’ll probably back up past the Powhite entrance and bother us Stratford Hills people too.
Graziano’s office informed me the repaving/bike lane install is to begin in Spring 2015. They also informed me a stoplight will be installed at the corner of Melbourne and Forest Hill, which i was inquiring about.
Wow. At Melbourne and Forest Hill? It seems to me that a light at Rettig and Forest Hill makes the most sense: it’s a four-way intersection, not too close to existing traffic lights, and would allow safe access and egress to the neighborhoods flanking Forest Hill Avenue.
Sigh.
Nick Georges: Remembering the earlier gas main replacement beginning at Roanoke and Forest Hill: It was originally advertised as a “90 day” project, took considerable longer, and was followed by a subsequent announcement of further closures because of the necessity for moving lines to individual homes from the “old” gas main to the “new” one – that added several additional months of traffic disruption. Surely the engineers who designed the project were not so incompetent to have overlook the necessity for and disruption involved in moving individual lines to homes to the newly installed gas mains.
I continue to wonder why the City will not (a) provide earlier, timely, clear, complete, and accurate notices of planned lane closures and (b) why the city refuses to incorporate the impact of all required work in their announcements. Clearly once the gas mains from Jahnke to the Powhite are replaced it will still be necessary to move individual lines serving homes from the “old” to the “new” line.
Stuffa, i agree with you. Let’s just hope they were mistaken about the location. They originally told me Woodberry, then sent another email saying it would actually be Melbourne.
To avoid it all, just take Jahnke to Chippenham and get back on Forest Hill, or keep on truckin’, in my case, and get past it. Flexibility people, go with the flow…bend with the breeze a bit.
On the stop light issues, Melbourne light is a complete waste of money. Rettig makes way more sense. Also a left turn lane in the east bound for those going into Willow Oaks would be a vast improvement.
I live at the Willow Oaks apartments, so it’s a little hard to go with the flow when I’m trying to make a left on Forest Hill and the traffic, now condensed to one lane on both sides, is a constant stream with limited visibility. Makes for a lousy commute, but what can you do?