Shockoe Bottom pickup spot opens to rideshares

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- After months of expanded road closures on weekends made parts of Shockoe Bottom difficult to access, a new pick up spot for rideshares is giving customers a way to get around.

Jackie Bishop Wells owns Fallout in Richmond, and she said she's been advocating for months to have a dedicated rideshare location that customers can be dropped off at and picked up from after a night out.

Since August 2024, road closures have impacted North 18th Street, East Franklin Street and East Grace Street. The Richmond Police Department said it closed the streets to vehicle traffic as a safety measure.

(Photo courtesy: Mariah Jallad, 8News)

But Bishop Wells, whose business is on North 18th Street, said it caused confusion for her customers.

“We were fielding a lot of questions about like, 'oh you know, it takes forever to park down here. You know, I just don’t know how to get down here. My Uber driver doesn’t want to get close to the area,'" Bishop Wells said. "And we were trying to educate people as much as we could via conversation.”

(Photo courtesy: Mariah Jallad, 8News)

To find a solution, Bishop Wells said she worked with RPD for months to establish the designated pickup point. It's located on North 17th Street between Grace and Broad streets, and opened to Uber and Lyft drivers two weeks ago.

(Photo courtesy: Mariah Jallad, 8News)

She also created a map and distributed it on social media.

(Photo courtesy: Jackie Bishop Wells)

"This finally coming through has been a lot easier for people," Bishop Wells said. "We had a lot less questions, a lot less complaints about being able to get to us."