Bike Month events in Henrico spotlight health benefits of cycling, growing bicycle safety infrastructure

Fun, exercise and safety are the focus of Bike Month events in Henrico County this year.

At the HenBIKEo event May 13 at the Libbie Mill Library, participants can learn about road use safety and Henrico County’s infrastructure improvements. Recreation and Parks staff will have some fun giveaways and help kids and adults develop cycling skills off the road. Cyclists also will ride together around that neighborhood.

This year, cyclists in Henrico are steps closer to safety with a deliberately significant increase in cycling infrastructure across the county.

“The overall goal is connectivity, and we will work over the next several years to fund, design and construct bike infrastructure,” Terrell Hughes, Henrico County director of Public Works told the Henrico Citizen in a sit-down interview earlier this year.

By the numbers, Henrico County’s 2024-2025 Annual Report showed 60 miles of bike lanes, whereas the 2020-2021 Annual Report showed just nine miles of bike lanes. The county also has added 16 miles of paved mixed-use trails.  

A Henrico County map shows bike lane projects throughout the county, with the majority having been installed in the last five years, and it doesn't reflect the recent bike lane installations such as the ones on Willow Lawn Drive and Dumbarton Road.

“You will see that we have been busy,” Hughes who views the bike lane projects on Church Road, Hunton Park Boulevard, Raintree Drive and Westham Parkway in Henrico County as making cyclists safer. 

And recently, Public Works crews built new portions of Richmond-Henrico Turnpike and Woodman Road that include shared use paths.

Hughes said feedback on the growing cycling infrastructure has been positive overall, with high levels of support on public surveys.

“We do hear from some residents who have questioned the need for bike lanes,” Hughes said. “However, the bike lane projects are cost-effective since we are using existing pavement, and they have helped improve safety for the roads as a whole,” Hughes said.

According to national data, bike lanes not only improve the safety of bicyclists, but they also improve overall road safety as they reduce road lane widths.

The county’s initial findings on the Church Road bike lane project showed safety improvements, and that project is quickly approaching the five years Hughes would use for a true before/after evaluation.

Complained one resident on social media last year: “Henrico County Government now who told y'all to go and make Dumbarton Rd one lane both ways from Lakeside Ave to Impala Dr?!? Those bike lanes are not needed. I travel this road several times a day and don't ever see nobody riding no bikes. Yall just be doing the most for no reason. Us residents of Henrico county are tired of the bike lanes and roundabouts !!!!”

At the Lakeside Avenue Land Use Study Charette in the fall, there was a lot of enthusiasm about additional bicycle infrastructure tying into the Fall Line Trail. But there was concern for the safety of cyclists in the area. Some people were extremely skeptical, because bike lanes in the area are underutilized.

But data is showing Henrico’s infrastructure changes may impact cyclists’ chances of survival on the county’s roads.

Watch out Ahead Henrico (WOAH), a public-awareness campaign to promote safer streets for everyone, clocked crash data last year showing cyclists were involved in 23 crashes, resulting in three fatalities.

That brought the number of cyclists injured way down from the 40 hurt on Henrico's roads in 2024, though there were a similar number of fatalities. The number of cyclists hurt in crashes stayed near 23 for the five years prior, after a concerning spike of 31 cyclist injuries in crashes in 2018.

Still, with pleasant spring temperatures, the prospects of exercise through cycling, the possibility of protected bike lanes and gas at $4.65 a gallon, cycling is looking attractive.

State and local officials kicked off Bike Month this May by unveiling the Statewide Multiuse Trails Plan, a system of connected trail networks that officials hope will soon crisscross Virginia.

Earlier this month, cyclists in Henrico got out on the Capital Trail for events, as well as at Dorey Park and neighborhood routes for exercise.

Students at Pemberton Elementary School were among the cyclists with Henrico Police Department and the Greater Richmond Fit4Kids for a Bike to School Day focused on safety on their school community.

More cycling infrastructure to come

Henrico County's Capital Improvement Plan for Fiscal Year 2026 in the area of transportation exceeds the $27 million for road projects, $7.75 million for pedestrian and bike infrastructure (designed to improve walkability) and $1.5 million for new streetlights, from the Central Virginia Transportation Authority's local funding allotment.

“Many bike lane projects can be restriped by our team in Traffic Engineering. Others will take place with roadway repaving efforts,” Hughes said. “We also have standalone trail projects with various state and regional sources like the Fall Line Trail, Nuckols Road Trail, Messer Road Trail or the Garden City Connector projects.”

Hughes said the bike lane projects can be accomplished fairly quickly, with more time needed for design, right-of-way acquisition and utility relocations for larger trail and roadway projects that include trails.

Roadway projects like the currently-under-construction Sadler Road, Magellan Parkway and Bethlehem Road projects also include trails.

Once complete, the New Market Heights Trail project in the Varina District in Eastern Henrico will not only connect the Virginia Capital Trail to the James River at Deep Bottom Park but also will follow the path of the U.S. Army's Tenth Corps during the Civil War, highlighting a unique historically significant event.

The U.S. Army's Tenth Corps included three brigades of U.S. Colored Troops of roughly 3,800 men, fourteen of whom earned Medals of Honor for their actions during the battle.

A public hearing last month focusing on the Garden City Connector Trail, a planned 12-foot-wide shared use path along the south side of Athens Avenue and Scott Road to Best Plaza Drive, will serve as a connection between the Best Products Reimagined development and the Fall Line Trail. The public can still weigh in on the Garden City Trail & pedestrian bridge and trail in an online survey by May 15. 

The projects that move forward will be in accordance with the Draft Bike Plan, which is a part of the HenricoNEXT 2045 Comprehensive Plan.

"Henrico County is doing exciting things to support biking and walking," said Brantley Tyndall, director of Bike Walk RVA at Sports Backers. "We are thrilled to see Henrico proclaim May is Bike Month as they continue work installing protected bike lanes as major connectors to the future Fall Line trail. We understand the trail in the County is expected to be completed by 2028, at which point there will be an unbroken 13-mile section between Ashland and Richmond's Northside".

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.