Downtown Expressway

The lot upon which the Idle Gray will sit owes its creation to construction of Richmond’s Downtown Expressway, also known as Virginia State Route 195.  (Wait…shouldn’t it be called Virginia “Commonwealth” 195?)

Using access provided by the Richmond Public Library to articles published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper, I researched construction of the Downtown Expressway.  A few interesting facts include the following:

  • In 1966, Virginia created the Richmond Metropolitan Authority (RMA) to promote expressways and related road and bridge systems, including the Powhite Parkway, a new beltway (Interstate 195) and a new bridge across the James.  The proposed infrastructure was dubbed the Richmond Expressway System, and had been prompted by traffic jams in Richmond, Chesterfield, and Henrico counties that started around the end of World War II. 
     
  • The Downtown Expressway comprised one leg of the Richmond Expressway System.  It was described as an expandable, six-lane leg running from Beltline Expressway along the Idlewood Avenue corridor to a junction with the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike near Main Street Station.
     
  • The Downtown Expressway sliced off the northern tip of Byrd Park and cut a swath through the Oregon Hill, Randolph, and Byrd Park neighborhoods.  This displaced 900 businesses and homes, most of which housed working-class whites.
     
  • Several groups of highway consultants argued for a more aesthetically pleasing boulevard with trees and landscaping instead of an expressway.  They also argued that a boulevard not connected to Interstate 95 would forestall flight to suburban shopping venues.
     
  • The expressway opened in 1976.  It is credited with spurring development near the river (e.g., Federal Reserve building, various bank headquarters, and the James Center).  It also provided a quick way to exit Richmond, which is credited with prompting suburban residential growth and malls.

After winning the auction for the lot, I spent time at the Richmond Circuit Court to pull land records and better understand the history of the lot.  City of Richmond Plat Book 29, Page 69 illustrates how the Downtown Expressway sliced through the residential neighborhood surrounding Byrd Park, tore down homes, and created the lot that would become 2308 Idlewood Avenue. 

Book 29 Page 69.jpg
RMTA5013.jpg

Sources:

Levi, Dean.  “Expressway Plans Unveiled 20 Years Ago.”  Richmond Times-Dispatch 30 October 1986: 16.  NewsBank Web 11 March 2018.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/0EB4F67B77BC36C1?p=NewsBank

Robertson, Gary.  “City at the Forefront of Ways to Go Places – Streetcards Major Agent for Change.”  Richmond Times-Dispatch 14 March 1999: 16.  NewsBank Web 11 March 2018.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/0EB4FB28A262DE83?p=NewsBank

Neman, Daniel.  “Richmond and Race - Valentine Center takes a look at relations from the 1950s to the 1970s.”  Richmond Times-Dispatch 14 April 2008: E-1.  NewsBank Web 11 March 2018.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1201BE1E09B703C8?p=NewsBank

http://www.rmtaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RMTA5013.jpg.  Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  Web.  11 March 2018.