Walk and Bike to School Day imparts the joy of movement and independence, need for safety improvements

On Thursday morning, Michael Wiebe expects that as many as 100 people will participate in the annual Walk and Bike to School Day at Maybeury Elementary School, where his 7- and 10-year-old children are students.

“Biking together in a group is so much fun and energizing for kids,” said Wiebe. “The kids love it. They’re taking themselves to school. It’s great for increasing their independence when they’re doing the job that adults are generally doing for them. They’re in the road and they’re learning to be responsible.”

Wiebe counts teaching serious life lessons around health and road safety among the many benefits of regularly walking or biking his children to their school, located just west of the Tuckahoe YMCA.

“You can see things around you, and you can get physical activity,” Wiebe said. “It’s great.”

The Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day, observed nationally Oct. 8, is geared to elementary school students to teach traffic safety. Many Henrico County public schools hosted the event Wednesday, while others like Maybeury postponed things a day because of anticipated bad weather that didn't quite materialize.

Wednesday morning at Tuckahoe Elementary School, participation in Walk and Bike to School Day was robust, including "welcoming committees" of Freeman H.S. football players and cheerleaders, and Tuckahoe M.S. cheerleaders. 

"Whether and how to participate is local and varies by school and neighborhood. Of course, participation is greater at "walkable" schools – schools with nearby, higher-density neighborhoods, so the effects on transportation needs would be highly localized," Ken Blackstone, assistant director of the Henrico County Public Schools department of communications wrote in an email. "In the past, some schools that are not near neighborhoods have held walking events on the track during the school day."

 The event encourages walkable, safe neighborhoods and routes to school, promotes active lifestyles for students and families, and is designed to build a sense of community in schools and surrounding neighborhoods.  

To encourage others to join and make it celebratory, Wiebe and other families will meet at a nearby intersection and then pedal together to the elementary school.

Last year, police cars accompanied the group of cyclists, as was expected to be the case at the numerous schools participating around Henrico County.

But when Wiebe walks or bikes with his two children to school on a regular school day, without the bubble machines and upbeat music, he admits it can be a little scary at times.

Among those problems: a short traffic light that requires them to jog across a street to the school.

“In the morning, the biggest problem is the carpool line,” Wiebe said. “There can be 100 cars or more. It can be hard getting in and out of school. It clogs things up. Also, school buses are often stuck in line because of the car traffic.”

The traffic around the school with 600 students slows down other students who ride those same buses from getting to school, as the vehicles have more runs to make.

Of the more than 50,000 students enrolled in HCPS, nearly half are transported to and from school and school-related activities by school buses, according to HCPS.

Another problem is drivers’ aggressive attitudes toward cyclists, Wiebe said.

“It’s really drivers who are the biggest risk. Drivers are the real danger,” he said.

Concern about safety near schools

Wiebe is not alone in expressing concern about pedestrian and cyclist safety around schools and on Henrico County roads.

Last month, Henrico officials addressed approximately three dozen people, including Wiebe, at the Freeman High School auditorium for a community meeting to address safety along the Three Chopt Road corridor between Freeman High School and Tuckahoe Middle School (a stretch that also includes Ridge Elementary School).

At the end of August, an 11-year-old Tuckahoe Middle School student Dania Bashier was fatally hit and killed by a driver while riding her bike across the street near her school, which is two miles from Maybeury Elementary.

Wiebe and others at the meeting raised numerous concerns about safety, specifically around schools, suggesting long and short-term solutions to road issues.

According to the officials at that meeting, there had been 11 fatal car-involved crashes in Henrico County in 2025, with many crashes occurring at night. Henrico Police officials logged at least five fatal crashes involving pedestrians and vehicles.

At the road safety talk at Freeman High School, Henrico Public Works Director Terrell Hughes said the county is committed to making corridors safer, with $1.5 million budgeted specifically to improving lighting for pedestrians in various parts of the county.

He and other officials detailed Henrico County’s long-term plans, which involve 74 active projects totaling more than $570 million: adding 20 miles of sidewalks, 16 miles of shared-use paths, 50 bus shelters and 75 benches, and new crosswalks and pedestrian signs.

Hughes detailed two major projects focused on pedestrian improvements at Three Chopt and Eastridge Road, and at Starling and Quioccason.

“Multimodal projects are important to Henrico County because they provide a variety of safe transportation options for the public,” said Henrico spokesperson Beth Sanmartin. “They also broaden access across the county to businesses and resources. These types of projects provide the public with flexibility in how they can get to where they want and need to go whether for their jobs, health needs, education and more.”

The safety benefits go beyond pedestrians and cyclists. Adding bike lanes reduce total crashes on roads but 30% to 49% according to the Federal Highway Administration. Similar benefits have been seen after the completion of road diet projects.

Central Virginia Transportation Authority funding impact

Strong commitments in local and regional funding, from entities such as the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, allow Henrico to continue to advance multimodal projects in the county.

Since its establishment in 2020, 94 projects in Henrico have been partially or totally funded by the CVTA, which generates money through a sales and gas tax. CTVA prioritizes critical transportation projects that aim to improve safety and accessibility.

This fiscal year, the CVTA is distributing $156 million toward Henrico County public works projects that orient toward a more pedestrian safe locality.

Through that sales and local fuel tax, the CVTA has collected a total of $600 million, of which about $123 million has been distributed to Henrico. Of the CVTA tax revenue collected within each jurisdiction, 50% goes back to that jurisdiction, 35% goes toward the CVTA’s operations and regional projects, and 15% goes to GRTC to fund its free fare program and other needs.

Henrico County’s latest CVTA funded projects are:

• $5 million – countywide pedestrian improvements to design and construct bicycle, pedestrian and transit stop improvements;

•$2.5 million – connector trails to design and construct both shared use path both adjacent to roadways and on new alignment;

•$3 million – pavement reclamation for full depth pavement replacement to include roadway widening and ditch adjustments;

•$2.5 million – traffic-calming for roadway modifications and enhancements to control speeds and improve safety;

•$1 million – countywide engineering feasibility studies for planning and preliminary engineering for roadway improvements;

•$1 million – roadway safety studies-corridor safety studies to identify potential bike, pedestrian and vehicular safety improvements

• $12.5 million – construction contingency funding-line item to cover construction phase cost overruns;

Sanmartin said the $5-million CVTA-funded countywide pedestrian improvements are in addition to local funds dedicated to constructing sidewalks.

“We’ve seen a significant uptick in active projects with the additional funds, but it also helps the county match state and/or federal grant funds and have more candidate projects for competitive grant applications,” Sanmartin said. 

The $3 million pavement reclamation, which includes roadway widening and ditch adjustments funds efforts, largely have been focused in the Varina District, with the exception of Kain Road and an upcoming Greenwood Road project.

The $2.5 million for traffic-calming roadway modifications program funds Henrico County’s Traffic Calming Program, which installs speed cushions and other traffic calming measures. Sanmartin said the public works department is currently finishing up its installation list for the fall and beginning their list for the spring.

The $1 million countywide engineering feasibility studies for planning and preliminary engineering for roadway improvements is crucial to engage with the public and develop concepts prior to getting grant or local funding on a sidewalk project. All projects start off with a study. An active example is the Azalea Road Safety Study.

The $1 million roadway safety corridor safety studies to identify bike, pedestrian and vehicle safety improvements will fund new studies that come up. A current example is focused on Three Chopt Road, where county planners will be looking around Ridge Elementary School for possible bike lanes.

The $12.5 million construction contingency funding to cover construction phase cost overruns will help fund ongoing projects actively in construction or going to construction this fiscal year, as necessary. Examples include projects on Sadler Road, Richmond-Henrico Turnpike, Magellan Parkway and Bethlehem Road.

In 2025, 87 county projects were funded by the CVTA funds. Creighton Road improvements, Wilkinson Road Bridge reconstruction and Taylor Farm Park Trail/Whiteside Road Roundabout (at Taylor Farm Park) were some of the notable public works projects that benefited from those funds.

While Wiebe listened to Henrico County elected, planning and law enforcement officials at the Freeman High School community meeting explain plans to change up roads to make them safer, he still felt progress seemed too slow.

He said he would like to see more pedestrian and cycling infrastructure done faster.

“I would like to hear, ‘We’re prioritizing safety and we can do it boldly,’” Wiebe said.

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.