When Glenwood W. Burley was a Richmond police officer, they couldn't run radar to catch speeders on a busy half-mile stretch of Forest Hill Avenue.

The traffic was too heavy.

Now the patch of road between Hathaway Road and the Powhite Parkway ramps is even worse and the retired policeman wonders what can be done to improve safety in the neighborhood where he has lived for 34 years.

Richmond officials believe they have a solution in widening that stretch of Forest Hill Ave. Preliminary plans include adding a center turn lane, at least one bike lane and sidewalk and possibly a new traffic light at Rettig Road.

Though the plan sounds good, construction isn't even slated to begin for at least three years.

That wasn't good enough for nearly 60 residents who attended a meeting Wednesday night at St. Luke Lutheran Church to hear about the project. Though the meeting started off with an explanation about the widening projects, the details about its costs, timing and the possible taking of people's property quickly turned the meeting into a what-can-you-do-for-safety-now session.

Residents weren't happy to hear part of their neighborhood described as an important corridor for commuters into the city. They asked city officials to reduce the speed limits now and seemed doubtful that future improvements would have much of an effect given how drivers currently ignore the law.

"There's nothing there for people to slow down. What can we do in the interim to slow them down?" Burley asked.

"Hopefully, there's something the police and authorities can do to make this safer because the people coming through there could care less about this area. It's a speed strip for them."

City Traffic Engineer Thomas Flynn told residents that in the interim they can check the traffic signals to make sure they're functioning correctly and are coordinated with other lights, but lowering the 40-mph speed limit might not help things.

"It's an arterial road. It won't necessarily make it safer and, in many cases, is not appropriate and causes more problems," he said.

Inappropriate traffic calming measures might also force traffic onto other nearby roads, causing bigger problems, Flynn said.

Councilwoman Kathy Graziano (4th), who represents the area, said it's obviously a very serious problem and asked Flynn and others to look at the problems to see what could be done in the interim to give residents a better quality of life until the widening project is complete.

In the past three years, city engineer Jim Leadbetter told the crowd, there have been 78 accidents, including a four-car pileup last week that caused more than $20,000 in damage.

That's the big reason why the city wants to improve the area. In the presentation, Leadbetter pointed out that improving safety (for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and residents), improving traffic flow, improving drainage, improving multi-modal modes of transportation and enhancing livability were the goals of the project.

To that end, city officials would be working with residents on the project to gain a consensus on what improvements were wanted. Officials began talking to residents now, they said, because they finally have the federal funds needed to begin the design phase and acquiring rights of way for the project.

"We now have the design money to start working with you as a team to come up with something you can all enjoy and live with," said M.S. Khara, capital projects administrator.

The project, which officials estimate will cost $12 million overall, is intended to balance the needs of residents, businesses and the commuters who drive through the area to get downtown, officials said.

It is too early to know how much land and whose property could be affected in the widening, Leadbetter said, but property owners would be treated fairly and compensated justly according to federal law.

"We want this to remain a good neighborhood feel as opposed to a huge urban corridor," he said.

The next phase of the project is to finalize a contract with a design firm, hopefully within the next two months and then begin information gathering, such as traffic studies, including a noise study and surveying, Leadbetter said.

The earliest construction could begin on the project would be three years from now if the city has at least 90 percent of the money needed in hand. Given the state of transportation funding in the state and the competition for federal funds, that's not a guarantee.

If residents and city officials can't agree on what specific improvements should be made, the final decision would go to the planning commission.

For more information on the project, contact Leadbetter at (804) 646-3704 or e-mail him at leadbjl@ci.richmond.va.us.