‘We don’t want this to be a high speed connection’: Richmond lowers Westover Hills Boulevard speed limit

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Richmond is investing almost a billion dollars into transportation safety over the next five years, and the changes are starting in the city’s southside right now.

Among some of the improvements are a speed limit reduction on Westover Hills Boulevard from Forest Hill to the Nickel Bridge.

“That’s a key north-south connection, but we don’t want this to be a high-speed connection,” Director of the Department of Transportation Andy Boenau said.

The speed limit for the stretch is now 25 mph, down from 35 mph, which drivers were already pushing. The city’s public speed database shows a majority of drivers were going closer to, or more than 40 mph.

“25 miles an hour is plenty. And we’re also approaching an area, the area around Westover Hills Boulevard and Forest Hill Avenue, it’s a great community node. There’s commercial, it’s nearby residential, and of course, you’re a close walk or bike ride up to the river. So this is the kind of place where we want to make sure everyone calms down,” Boenau said.

The change comes as Richmond is seeing an increase in traffic-related fatalities in its first quarter, compared to this time last year. So far, there have been seven incidents, whereas in 2025, there were five in the first quarter.

“Speed is the fundamental factor in all the severe crashes,” Boenau said. “We want to bring vehicle speeds down as low as possible. So anything we can do to bring them below 25 miles an hour, that’s what we’re working on.”

Boenau says the city is putting $.9 billion dollars towards more traffic projects, like pedestrian hybrid beacons, too. There are now two just down the road from the speed limit change, right next to Richmond High School for the Arts.

“That’s an important tool to use on wider streets where we have more opportunities for people to be at risk or places where we’ve noticed higher speeds,” Boenau said.

On top of the new projects, RPD is doing different enforcement blitzes once a month, catching as many speeders as they can. The goal is ultimately to change behavior, turning around the current traffic fatalities trend, and getting Richmond closer to its Vision Zero goal.

“We described this as a Swiss cheese model of safety, which is if you stack up Swiss cheese, if you have enough pieces, then eventually all those holes will be covered. So, each layer is very important. So safe cars, the vehicles themselves, safe people, safe speeds. We need all of these things at the same time,” Boenau said.

The new speed signs are already installed. Boenau says more pedestrian improvements will be announced soon.