A Master Plan for Courthouse Village - College of Humanities and ...

Pedestrian Access
The purpose of sidewalks and crosswalks is to provide a safe passage for
pedestrians outside the flow of ordinary vehicular traffic. Typically these areas
are flat, smooth surfaces that are wide enough to allow for at least two people to
pass each other from a forward facing position when approaching from opposite
directions. Present building standards usually require sidewalks to be at least
four feet wide to accommodate passage. While the Courthouse Village
experiences a great deal of pedestrian activity, and although there are many
sidewalks provided in the Courthouse area (Figure 7), the existing pedestrian
network is incomplete. The most obvious sidewalks are those that run along
state Route 6. A sidewalk exists on the east side of River Road West from
approximately the Courthouse Square in the south to the intersection of Sandy
Hook Road in the north. A few sidewalks exist on the southern end of the west
side of River Road West; however they often only extend to property lines and
are not connected to one another. A sidewalk does exist from along the west
side of Sandy Hook Road from River Road West to Fairground Road, however
there is no crosswalk connecting it to the sidewalk on the east side of River Road
West.
Sidewalks are also found throughout the historic Courthouse Square running
between buildings and parking areas. A few of the sidewalks in the Village are in
need of maintenance. Routine maintenance is typically the responsibility of the
adjacent property owner. There is no sidewalk access whatsoever to several
popular destinations including the Courthouse Commons Shopping Center, the
Goochland Library, and the businesses located west of River Road West. This
lack of connectivity requires pedestrians to unsafely navigate through yards,
ditches and busy streets to reach their destinations.
A Master Plan for Courthouse Village Page 29 of 96
Spring, 2006
Goochland County