On March 20, the Board of Supervisors approved a sweeping new land-use plan that supports walking, biking and a bus rapid transit system on Richmond Highway.
Called Embark Richmond Highway, the update to the 7.5-mile corridor’s land-use plan is the first step needed to build a future bus rapid transit, or BRT, system. The future bus rapid transit system will run primarily in the median from the Huntington Metro Station to Fort Belvoir.
The plan calls for concentrating more mixed-use development, especially residential, within a half mile around the nine BRT stations. It also imagines new ways to get around, providing continuous walking and bike paths along the corridor in addition to the bus system.
While the total amount of new development isn’t significantly more than the previous land-use plan, the new plan calls for more residential development. In total, it foresees a maximum of 18,000 housing units and 8.5 million square feet in nonresidential development.
For more information on Project Embark, click here.