RICHMOND, Va. – Busted! Mayor Jones is a smart guy. So I asked myself, ‘Why are the Mayor and his City Council allies refusing to do a competent study of traffic issues created by cars going to a game, and leaving the game, at his proposed controversial Shockoe Stadium?’
According to the Mayor and his pro-Shockoe Stadium allies, they will do a traffic study AFTER they vote to spend over $100 million of your money to build their Stadium.
Spend first, and study later?
Does the Mayor really expect YOU or Goldilocks here to believe he has gone through all this time, wasted all these millions of dollars in staff time, to push for his Shockoe Stadium without ALREADY knowing the truth about the traffic?
Maybe YOU don’t mind being taken for a Crash Test Traffic Study Dummy, but I do.
I have previously written why this doesn’t make any sense.
Even the Virginia Department of Transportation ADMITS NOW the study the Mayor and City Council is relying on DOES NOT DO THE JOB REQUIRED.
So I searched for the right answer.
Now I have it. The Mayor already knows the truth.
How do I know?
In the age of Google traffic maps, all you need to do is sit down with a qualified expert or two and the Mayor or his staff can figure out IN A FEW HOURS the basic problems created by a Shockoe Stadium.
Ultimately you will need a formal, more detailed study.
But with an iPad and some help from experts and others knowledgeable, you can get to the bottom about stadium traffic should you build a stadium in the Bottom.
So earlier this week, I sat down with folks and earned my P.E, P.M.P., P.T.O.E., and A.I.C.P. degrees in traffic stuff so to speak.
Common sense says the Jones Administration and others have done it.
IT IS LITERALLY SHOCKOE BOTTOM STADIUM TRAFFIC FOR DUMMIES.
Why would they not do it?
Result
The current transportation grid was not designed to accommodate the TRAFFIC MESS FROM THE STRESS created by the many thousands of cars going and leaving the game. That’s hardly a revelation.
IT WILL TAKE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to bring it up to what would be required by current traffic management standards. Why? The area involves the old Richmond and Petersburg highway grid designed for an entirely different purpose and decades ago at that.
No one has that kind of money to waste for a Stadium, not even this City Hall and City Council.
BUT THERE IS NO SUCH REQUIREMENT.
If Richmonders want a Shockoe Stadium, then they will have to endure THE MESS FROM THIS STRESS, sometimes bigger, sometimes lesser, but inescapable.
Extra time to get to game, extra time leaving, all extra expenses in one form or another.
There is nothing illegal or immoral about creating THIS MESS. If you want Shockoe Bottom baseball, then there is a price to be paid besides over $100 million in public money.
It is time for the Mayor and his Shockoe Bottom Stadium posse to level with the people.
For example, there are serious traffic issues involving a choke point in the transportation grid leading South and North to the Interstate, the Monroe Street state building area, the required U-turn or reverse direction on Broad Street for Southbound baseball fans, the CSX bridge overpass near the stadium, the interstate off-ramp leading to Franklin Street, Board Street traffic affecting the Level 1 Trauma Center downtown, certain parking issues, just for starters.
Bottom line
Shockoe Bottom Baseball means BIG MESSES DUE TO TRAFFIC STRESSES. People around the country live with it as the price for having a stadium.
But Richmonders have the right to know before the vote, not after.
Paul Goldman is in no way affiliated with WTVR. His comments are his own, and do not reflect the views of WTVR or any related entity. Neither WTVR nor any of its employees or agents participated in any way with the preparation of Mr. Goldman’s comments.
