Hopewell’s Heretick Avenue is a good 11-minute drive to City Point where the Appomattox and James rivers meet, but for some time now residents who live along the street may have felt like they owned riverfront property due to years of major stormwater flooding.
Pretty soon, though, Heretick Avenue − where most residences date back as far as the mid-1950s − will become a far drier place.
On May 4, city officials were presented with a check for $1.092 million to complete long-overdue capital improvements to stormwater runoff along the road. Outdated infrastructure will be replaced with state-of-the-art equipment that will no longer cause water to back up onto Heretick Avenue that, according to Mayor Johnny Partin Jr., was often deep enough “to allow a kayak to go down the street” whenever heavy storms pounded Hopewell.
Heretick Avenue’s drainage problems evolved from years of recurring flooding into a formally recognized public‑safety hazard by 2024.
“These funds will help one of Hopewell’s worst stormwater problems that we currently have,” Partin told a small gathering at the Beacon Theatre for the check presentation. “It’s going to help worsening erosion, reducing the number of neighborhood sinkholes that the community has been experiencing, and it’s also going to get the city an opportunity to save some funds … and we can update some utility lines in time.”
Heretick Aveue was atop Hopewell’s wish list for federal dollars from the fiscal year 2026 budget. Each year, localities present a roster of recommendations for improvements to their local congressional representatives, who in turn try to get them included into the final budget package that Congress sends to the White House for approval.
Rep. Jennifer McClellen, D-Virginia, presented the city with a ceremonial check, adding she was in attendance “not to give a speech” but to “bring a check.” However, she noted that lack of attention to water infrastructure not just in Hopewell but through the Fourth Congressional District has created problems that are among the most repeated to her from local authorities across the district.
“All of them said the same thing: it has been too long since we were able to invest in our water infrastructure,” McClellan said. “Water is life, and we need to make sure our residents have clean drinking water, our businesses should have the water they need.”
The Beacon Theatre was the first of several stops McClellan was making throughout the district to present federal budget payments. On May 5, she will be at Virginia State University in Ettrick to present the school with $1.031 million for its Center for Generative AI and Industrial Cybersecurity. The center’s mission is to “enhance VSU’s research capabilities and provide advanced computing resources for students and faculty,” according to a VSU email announcing the check presentation.