Final Embark Richmond Highway open house scheduled for Jan. 10
An artist’s view on a plaza and park envisioned in the Hybla Valley/Gum Springs CBC.
The last Embark Richmond Highway open house will be January 10, giving the public a chance to learn more about the final draft of the Embark comprehensive plan amendment that was released last month.
The open house will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Walt Whitman Middle School (see map), and comes ahead of scheduled votes on the Embark amendment by the county’s planning commission and the Board of Supervisors.
It will be the sixth public meeting during the Embark planning process, and the first since the final draft of the Embark amendment was released in November. County staff will be on hand to answer questions from the public, and anyone can read the full staff report on the Embark comprehensive amendment ahead of time on the county’s website.
About Embark
Embark Richmond Highway is a multiyear initiative that looks to transform the Route 1 corridor by incorporating new transit and development options in the area between the Capital Beltway and Jeff Todd Way/Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. Embark calls for major land use changes along the corridor, including those that would allow for older commercial properties to be redeveloped as higher density, mixed-use developments. These developments would primarily be in six Community Business Centers (CBCs), which are envisioned as live-work-shop urban environments.
The six CBCs include North Gateway, Penn Daw, Beacon/Groveton, Hybla Valley/Gum Springs, and Woodlawn. They CBCs would be tied together by a new bus rapid transit system (BRT) built in the middle of Route 1, running from Fort Belvoir to the Huntington Metro. Each CBC would have a BRT station.
Click to enlarge
Embark also envisions the widening of Richmond Highway to six lanes throughout the corridor, and the extension of the Yellow Line from Huntington to new stations in Groveton and Hybla Valley.
Improvements for pedestrians and cyclists are also a big part of Embark, with wider sidewalks farther from the roadway and dedicated bike lanes on both sides of the highway.
The planning commission will its public hearing on the Embark amendment on Jan. 25, and if the plan is approved by the commission, the Board of Supervisors will hold its public hearing on March 18. More information about Embark can be found on the county’s website.
What will happen to Beacon Hill Apartments, Meadow Woods Apartments and the Gum Spring Housing?
Rt1 is very congested 2 times a day, with AM and PM rush hours!
Everyone has to break hard, cut into/off, just to get wherever he/she needs to get to.
There’s so many potholes and blocked view spots, cross walk and traffic lights don’t with the flow of traffic.
So please we don’t need or want anymore changes! Please try to fix the long overdue issues that haven’t been updated since the very first car was created.
The entire Rt1 strip from N. Huntington all the way down to Florida!
The CBCs will be a welcome addition to Route 1! It’s no wonder so many young, affluent families are moving into the area. Better public transportation in the form of the BRT and extending the yellow line is fantastic also.