Mayo Bridge Resurfacing Runs Through October 23, Then Drops to One Lane Each Way: What It Means for Manchester

Published October 20, 2026

The Mayo Bridge is being resurfaced, and when the work ends it will carry two travel lanes instead of four. RVAHub published the City of Richmond’s announcement on October 13, 2026 (byline Richard Hayes). The city’s Department of Transportation says resurfacing runs October 13 through 23, weather permitting. This post summarizes that announcement and adds what it means for people who live in, or are looking at homes in, Manchester.

What the city says is happening

According to the announcement, crews work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, with one lane open in each direction while they do. The work covers the bridge between the north and south floodwalls, and detour routes are to be posted. The city says the pavement has reached the end of its useful life and gives the bridge a Pavement Condition Index of 0, which it describes as pavement failure.

When resurfacing ends, the bridge changes from its current four-lane layout to a pilot with one travel lane in each direction and full-width shoulders. The city calls this a pilot road diet and says it is meant to support traffic operations during two coming projects, the Manchester Canal Bridge Replacement and the Hull Street Streetscape. In the city’s framing, the pilot also gives people on foot more space from traffic and produces real-world traffic data for future bridge replacement planning. Andy Boenau, the city’s transportation director, said resurfacing provides “a smoother, safer ride today.” The city expects the resurfaced bridge to serve until a planned replacement in the coming years.

What it means for Manchester

The Mayo Bridge crosses the James River between downtown and Manchester, so a change in its lane count is a change in how the neighborhood connects north. The word “pilot” matters. The city says it wants to evaluate how the corridor functions before the larger projects, which means the configuration can be adjusted based on what it learns. A buyer should treat the layout as a current condition, not a permanent one.

The larger projects are worth reading about directly. The city’s construction projects page lists the Hull Street Corridor Streetscape and Manchester Canal Bridge Replacement projects. A city presentation dated March 30, 2022 describes the streetscape as work on Hull Street in Manchester from 9th Street to the Flood Wall, with sidewalk upgrades, 39 new street trees, new lighting and a $4,061,000 total cost funded by a SMART SCALE grant. That presentation projected construction from fall 2025 to fall 2026, so check the city for the current schedule before relying on it. Our guide to finding out what is being built near a Richmond house shows how to do that for any address.

How to read this if you are shopping near the river

Three practical steps. First, drive your own commute in both directions at the times you would use it, once during construction and once after, because a lane count tells you less than a drive does. Second, ask the seller or your agent which routes the street uses to reach downtown, the interstates and Hull Street. Third, bookmark the city’s project page and check it before you make an offer. Our guide to neighborhoods near the James River bridges explains which crossing serves which side of the river.

If your commute starts in Chesterfield County or elsewhere south of the river, check which crossings your own route uses before assuming this applies to you. Manchester’s recent business news is in our posts on three restaurant changes on Hull Street and the T-Force headquarters demolition, both useful for reading the corridor. For the wider city, start at the city of Richmond page.