GRTC changing locations for planned Pulse terminus in western Henrico

GRTC is planning to extend the Pulse line farther west to the intersection of Broad and Parham. Currently the line’s terminus is about five miles away at Willow Lawn. (BizSense file photo)

As GRTC continues to plan a westward expansion of the Pulse, it is now looking at a different site than previously planned for the rapid-transit line’s new endpoint in Henrico.

The transit organization confirmed this week it is planning a pair of Pulse stations at the intersection of Broad Street and Parham Road, which would be the new terminus for the line.

That marks a change in direction for the joint GRTC-Henrico project, which had previously been planned to end at a nearby property on Old Parham Road that was recently purchased by the county for $1.3 million.

One of the new Pulse platforms would be built near the Pearson Jeep dealership on the north side of Broad, and the other near Buz and Ned’s Real Barbecue on the street’s south side, according to a May conceptual design.

In a prepared statement, GRTC said that the stops planned on Broad would be the new end of the Pulse, which has its current terminus nearly five miles east at Willow Lawn.

“When the County identified and moved forward with acquiring a parcel for future transfer needs, it made sense to consider the possibility of including a (bus rapid transit) station at this site. However, the BRT plans have since shifted, with the current focus being on an East/West pair of stations along Broad Street near Parham, with one of them serving as the end of the line,” GRTC said in the statement.

GRTC announced plans to use the property at 3400 Old Parham Road as a Pulse terminus and transfer station last summer. The organization still intends to operate a bus transfer station on the site, which Henrico closed on last month. As a transfer station, the facility would link several current planned bus routes, including the Pulse.

“The transfer site itself is still in the early planning stages, and its final design will depend on size constraints and operational needs. Once developed, it will complement both the Pulse and local routes that connect to it,” GRTC’s statement read.

It was unclear exactly when the plan for the site changed. Questions about why stops weren’t being planned on Broad came up at a community meeting held in the fall and spurred interest in reevaluating the project, Henrico Senior Transportation Planner Ashley Austin said. As late as mid-April, GRTC had publicly described the Old Parham Road property as being planned to feature a Pulse station.

The 1-acre Old Parham property is currently occupied by a 9,000-square-foot retail strip. Austin said that most likely the existing structure would be demolished to make way for the new transfer facility, which doesn’t yet have a cost estimate or construction timeline.

The property is currently home to Parham Laundry Center and other businesses, and Henrico has previously said it would work with the tenants to plot their eventual exits from the property. The county’s purchase didn’t include the neighboring Tropical Smoothie at 8207 W. Broad. St., which had previously been part of the same parcel as the retail strip but was split off.

The approximate locations of the proposed Pulse stops on Broad Street are shown in blue. The property that Henrico recently acquired for a GRTC transfer station is outlined in red. (Courtesy GRTC)

The locations of the Pulse stops on Broad haven’t been finalized. Austin said right-of-way acquisitions might be needed for the stops, but that the project hasn’t progressed far enough to determine how much might be required.

“The right of way is not going to be enough for the stations most likely. But because we just changed these station locations … we don’t have the specifics for that yet,” Austin said. “We don’t even have anything finalized to say how much right of way we need or if we need it.”

The westward Pulse extension is currently planned to have eight new stations and dedicated bus lanes along West Broad Street, according to a project description on GRTC’s website.

The extension project is currently underway on an environmental review anticipated to conclude in the summer. Also under review are where to place new bus stops along the extension route. GRTC is considering new Pulse stops around Broad Street’s intersections with Hungary Spring Road, Glenside Drive, Forest Avenue and Libbie Avenue, and other locations.

A map of the proposed western extension of the Pulse line. (Courtesy GRTC)

A park-and-ride site, where people could drop off their cars in the county and then hitch a ride on the bus into town, near the Pulse terminus is being planned, though a location hadn’t been identified as of earlier this month. Previously, GRTC has said there could be room for parking on the Old Parham property.

GRTC anticipates opening the western extension of the Pulse in 2029. A community meeting to discuss the Pulse extension project has been set for 5-7 p.m. May 19 at the Libbie Mill Library.

The Pulse extension is expected to open before the transfer station is completed because the bus route project is further along in its development. That was a factor in the decision to split what was once one project into two parts. Another factor was that it is expected to be easier to secure grant funding for the projects if they are broken out, Austin said.

At least three lines are planned to intersect at the transfer station – the extended Pulse, the existing Route 19 and a proposed new bus route on Parham, Austin said.

The Pulse line running from Rocketts Landing in Richmond to Willow Lawn in Henrico first opened in June 2018. GRTC is also in the early stages of planning a north-south Pulse line. The transit agency is jointly owned by Chesterfield and Richmond, while Henrico has representatives on its governing board of directors.

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