Staff outlines Richmond Connects multimodal plan, notes sidewalk gaps and $1.2 billion project scope

City staff presented elements of the Richmond Connects plan at an informal Richmond City Council meeting, showing neighborhood maps with shaded areas that continue to lack sidewalks and describing multimodal construction and operations work across the city.

The plan matters because sidewalk and multimodal projects affect pedestrian safety, mobility and capital spending priorities in neighborhoods across Richmond.

Staff showed maps indicating portions of the city where sidewalks were not included in original designs and remain absent today. The presenter said staff are coordinating operations, engineering and citizen engagement work and referenced a multimodal portfolio with roughly $1,200,000,000 in transportation construction and operations costs. The presentation linked the Richmond Connects plan with other capital improvement plan (CIP) projects and noted that staff would not review each project during the meeting because details were provided in the meeting packet.

A council member raised district-level concerns about sidewalks, saying their district “definitely [has] not improvements in terms of hospitals and such,” and asked about sidewalk improvements in that area. Staff acknowledged the concern and pointed to the combined planning and operations approach captured in the Richmond Connects plan.

The transcript segment provided does not record specific funding allocations, project schedules, or final council directions; it records the staff presentation and one council member’s question about sidewalks in a district.

Staff said continued coordination across engineering and operations and public engagement is necessary to implement the plan and improve sidewalk coverage in identified neighborhoods.