Daniel’s Hill residents hold meeting about D Street Bridge

By Alicia Petska

Published: July 24, 2008

Residents of Daniel’s Hill are calling on the city to restore their bus service and install a traffic light on Cabell Street, which is now the sole gateway to that neighborhood following the closure of the D Street Bridge.

The bridge, which was shut down because of deterioration, was the subject of a community meeting attended by more than 100 people Thursday. The crowd urged city officials to bring back their bus and give them a stoplight.

“I have watched people walking up from Rivermont Avenue with six or seven grocery bags, in the heat,” said one woman who did not give her name. “We don’t need that in our neighborhood.”

“We need a bus,” she said adamantly.

Route 1A use to run through Daniel’s Hill, entering on Cabell Street and exiting via the D Street bridge.

The system now bypasses the neighborhood. The Greater Lynchburg Transit Company concluded maintaining service would require traversing a longer path through the area, threatening to upset the line’s already tight schedule.

“The staff essentially feels we would be creating a route that’s unviable,” GLTC manager Mike Carroll explained to Thursday’s group.

He added the company is exploring other possibilities, including establishing a shuttle service from Daniel’s Hill to another nearby bus stop.

Cost remains an uncertain consideration, he said.

Another chief concern among the community was the state of the intersection at Cabell Street and Rivermont Avenue. Drivers said wait times at the crossing were proving problematic, and strongly advocated the installation of a traffic light.

Traffic Engineer Gerry Harter said an evaluation was made, but the traffic levels recorded didn’t meet the standard for a light.

“It does require some patience and a wait before a gap (in Rivermont Avenue traffic) opens, but there are gaps,” he said.

Residents remained unconvinced. “We’re the ones who have to live here,” said one man. “We’re the ones who have to drive here.”

Harter said they would continue to monitor for increases in congestion and, in the short term, would take steps to remove obstructions that make it difficult to see cross-traffic approaching.

Over the course of this two-hour meeting, which was also attended by more than a dozen city employees and three councilmen, the conversation moved away from the D Street Bridge and toward concerns about crime, neighborhood blight, and a general sense Daniel’s Hill was not a priority for the city.

“It sounds to me like we’re getting the same old ‘Daniel’s Hill doesn’t need it. Daniel’s Hill doesn’t deserve it,’” said Robert Penick of Cabell Street. “I’ve heard it all my life.”

City officials and some residents countered by saying the community needs to take a proactive approach to its own revitalization and partner with the city to improve conditions.

Ward II Councilman Ceasor Johnson, who represents the area, said clearly some felt the neighborhood was something of a “stepchild” within Lynchburg.

“You hear them say, oh, if it was in Boonsboro or if it was in Rivermont,” he said. “… I think everyone took this as an opportunity to unload some of these issues they’ve been carrying as a community for some time.”

At the same time, Johnson said he felt it had been a productive dialogue and expressed hope these concerns could be addressed with the help of the neighborhood.

“I don’t think anyone left here with the idea we don’t care,” he said. “And that’s good.”