RICHMOND, Va. — In an interview with CBS 6, Richmond's newly-established director of transportation detailed steps the city is taking to address a surge in pedestrian deaths, including hundreds of millions of dollars in planned safety improvements over the next five to six years.
Since the start of 2026, four people have died in pedestrian-related collisions in Richmond. In 2025, 13 pedestrians were killed on Richmond roadways — one more than Fairfax County, a larger locality with a higher population, according to DMV data.
Andy Boenau, Richmond's newly named director of transportation, said the deaths have alarmed residents and city officials alike.
"This has been tragic. I mean, it scares everybody," Boenau said. "It's not any one thing that leads to these types of crashes."
He said the city's efforts to address pedestrian safety began in 2017 with the launch of Vision Zero, a program focused on eliminating traffic fatalities. He said the installation of traffic calming measures that year contributed to zero pedestrian deaths in 2018.
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"We know how to plan and design a safe system," Boenau said. "400 speed tables, bump outs, traffic circles, roundabouts, leading pedestrian intervals — where you get a head start at the light before people driving get a start — all of these things that are happening between 2018 and 2026."
CBS 6 asked Boenau what new measures are being put in place to protect pedestrians going forward. He said the mayor's decision to consolidate several departments into one large transportation department has helped further fund and accelerate projects that were already underway.
"Rather than these things being a couple of years from now, it's a couple of months," Boenau said.
Boenau said certain infrastructure treatments will now be implemented faster and in greater numbers.
"I talk about road diets a lot. I talk about bike lanes and bus lanes a lot," Boenau said. "These types of treatments that we'll be able to do faster and more of are a direct improvement to pedestrian safety."
With 95% of the city's transportation funding coming from federal, state, and regional grants, Boenau said Richmond's push for change has also attracted increased support from outside partners — meaning major projects like new bus lanes on bridges and new sidewalks could happen sooner than previously expected.
"More of our partner organizations are interested now, and we're willing and able to help pay for those types of things," Boenau said. "Right now, we have hundreds of millions of dollars that we're going to be spending over the next five or six years on pedestrian safety improvement projects."
We also asked Boenau what is being done to prevent deaths like those of Bill Martin and Hope Cartwright, who were struck and killed by drivers turning left who failed to yield to pedestrians displaying a walk signal.
Boenau pointed to a new infrastructure feature called left turn hardening, which the city is expanding significantly.
Left-turn hardening uses modular curbs and striping to reduce left-turning speeds and prevent “corner cutting” by drivers, according to the city.
"Left turn hardening. This is new for the city of Richmond. We're going from four to 80 of those," Boenau said. "With that kind of speed bump there, you're not going to cut the corner, because that's really uncomfortable. So what it does is it forces you to make almost a 90 degree turn when you're making a left, so you have to be very slow and very deliberate and pay attention to what you're doing."
Boenau also described a new pedestrian signal pilot program launched at the intersection of Marshall Street and 10th Street.
"There's a new pilot that just started on at the signal at Marshall and 10th. And what this does at the signalized intersection — at any corner that you're approaching, the pole is going to talk to you," Boenau said.
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