Hull Street Road Revitalization Plan - College of Humanities and ...

Hull Street Road Revitalization Plan
Overview of planning area
Other observations:
• There is open drainage from Warwick Road extending one half
mile west along Hull Street Road.
• Overhead utility lines are present along the entire length of the
corridor.
• Chesterfield possesses turning lanes and a well-marked median;
owever, there do not appear to be any sidewalks in the area.
• Signage throughout the entire corridor is varied and shows no
planned design continuity.
Connectivity
Within the study corridor, there are few major intersections and many
more minor ones. Major intersections include Warwick Road at the
east end of the corridor, followed by (proceeding west) Elkhardt Road,
Chippenham Parkway, and Turner Road. Many of the minor roads
intersecting Hull Street Road are collectors and meet the corridor as a
T-intersection; in several cases, minor roads meet Hull Street Road on
opposite sides of the corridor in close proximity to one another, creating
an “offset intersection”. This creates potentially dangerous turning
situations from these minor streets onto Hull Street Road.
The lack of pedestrian amenities along Hull Street Road extends into the
neighborhoods found just off the corridor. With the exception of a short
sidewalk segment that connects the Chippenham Place Apartments to
the corridor, no other sidewalks connect neighborhoods with Hull Street
Road. GRTC bus service does not extend into these neighborhoods,
and designated bike lanes are nonexistent in the area.
Circulation
Road Network
Hull Street Road is classified as a principal arterial highway throughout
the length of the study corridor. It is four lanes wide from Warwick Road
to Elkhardt Road. At Elkhardt it expands to six lanes and remains that
width through the Chesterfield side of the study corridor.
From a traffic-engineering standpoint, the primary intent of this section
of Hull Street Road is to move large volumes of traffic in an efficient
manner. Zoning ordinances direct development in which shoppers must
drive to their destination, park and shop, then get back in their car to visit
other destinations along the corridor. The heavy traffic volumes moving
at a high rate of speed make it difficult and inherently dangerous to
travel along the corridor as a pedestrian.
The road surface appears to be in good shape along most of the
corridor. In the Chesterfield section, shoulders consist mainly of curbs
with occasional cuts to allow vehicle access to driveways and parking.
There is a well-maintained grassy median that runs down the center of
the right-of-way. On the Richmond side, however, poorly defined gravel
shoulders and parking lots contribute to uncertain boundaries between
public and private space. In several instances on the Richmond side,
there is a noticeable trend of decay where the road edge meets the
business property. Many poorly maintained parking lots consist only of
loose gravel and are full of potholes, and the pavement appears to stop
at the street line. Many business lots are not labeled or marked clearly;
consequently it is difficult to tell if they are open. The center median
on the Richmond side of the corridor is narrow and poorly marked.
There are also many curb cuts through the median that create small
gravel islands, contributing to a design that appears poorly planned and
hazardous. 6
6
See Appendix A for additional maps of street hierarchy.
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