THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9508300193
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 187 lines
THE TRAFFIC FAIRY has her work cut out for her in Portsmouth.
About 100 residents called INFOLINE with traffic solutions and wishes that added up to about 15 new traffic lights - synchronized, of course, and timed to change faster late at night.
Also, nine stop signs, including a four-way stop at one intersection; two no left-turns; and one yield.
While she's at it, they'd like her to barricade neighborhoods; straighten out a dangerous curve; close one causeway, leave one bridge open and build another one; fill in a pot hole and come up with a Trucks Prohibited sign that hits truck drivers over the head.
After all that, you've just about got the happiest city in the world.
Unless those residents get in their car and leave their own traffic-free neighborhoods.
Then they're likely to be a little grouchy about all those new stop signs, red lights and closed-off neighborhoods that put an end to their smoother routes from one side of the city to another.
And therein lies the problem to the hottest traffic topics in town.
How does the city balance the quality of life in each neighborhood with the need to keep traffic moving from one point to another on roads that taxpayers helped build?
The answer: Carefully.
And not always to everyone's liking.
Take the No. 1 topic from callers - the Caroline Causeway between Westhaven and Waterview.
To many Westhaven residents, as well as motorists from Churchland, Park Manor, Simonsdale and other neighborhoods, it's a favored and pleasant route from one side of the city to another.
But to residents of Waterview - a neighborhood of picturesque residential streets - traffic pouring in like a runaway train has played havoc on property values and peace of mind.
Recently, City Traffic Engineer Richard McDaniel and Mayor Gloria Webb attended the neighborhood's civic league meeting to discuss the issue.
``We discussed . . . about eight other options,'' McDaniel said.
Those options ranged from turn restrictions and physical traffic diverters to traffic circles and stop signs that slow the traffic down and make the route less attractive to folks looking for a short cut.
But many homeowners see only one solution: Close the causeway.
Mayor Gloria Webb agrees.
``I'm one of those that cuts through there all the time,'' she conceded.
But she knows there are residents who take a risk every time they park their cars in front of their homes on the curving streets.
``There is no understanding of the speed limit in there,'' she said.
Although the traffic count dropped some with the completion of the Western Freeway, about 7,800 cars still travel those roads each day.
One suggestion is to close the causeway for 30 days to see where the traffic goes. Webb said she thinks that isn't a bad idea.
City Councilman Cameron Pitts doesn't think the causeway should be closed at all.
He sees it as unrealistic to believe that neighborhoods can be isolated from traffic, unless they were developed that way to begin with.
``If you want to build a neighborhood in a cul-de-sac, that's one thing,'' he said.
But Pitts doesn't think the right of a citizen to drive on a road should be sacrificed because a neighborhood wants to cordon itself off.
That doesn't mean he doesn't favor looking at other ways to keep traffic from becoming a burden to any one community.
For instance, Pitts thinks it makes more sense to close the Clifford Street bridge. He estimates about 75 percent of the traffic through Waterview is headed to or from the Clifford Street bridge.
The deteriorating bridge links Westhaven to large neighborhoods like Simonsdale, Park Manor and Hodges Manor, and is also a route to Chesapeake Square Mall.
Pitts says the bridge cannot be repaired and will need to be rebuilt instead.
``I hope we'll (close) it for traffic evaluation,'' he said. ``We've got to know what to do with those cars that were traveling it anyway.''
And, he added, closing the Clifford Street bridge could solve the Waterview problem while saving the city $1 million in Capital Improvement Program money.
``I think the bottom line, in my opinion, is if you've got to close something - better to close the one that saves'' the city money.
While talking about his solution, Pitts excused himself to take another call.
A woman wanted him to know she wanted the Clifford Street bridge to remain open. It was the route she took to her doctor's every day.
``It goes along all day, most of them the other way,'' he said about the calls he gets on the bridge issue.
``Anytime you take a position you're going to have people that don't agree with you,'' he said. ``You just hope you're doing the right thing for the betterment of most people.''
He's had many calls from people who favor his idea, he said.
Like those in Waterview, some people in Park Manor would like to stem some of the increased traffic cutting through their roads, he said.
In fact, the INFOLINE callers included several who were concerned about a stop sign that gets little respect at the intersection of Clifford Street and Elmhurst Lane in Park Manor.
``If they weren't using that as a short cut, (the city) wouldn't need to improve Elmhurst Lane down this way,'' said Pitts.
But by far the most calls on the INFOLINE concerned the Caroline Causeway, most of them residents who expressed their hope that it would be closed.
Two callers did suggest an alternative to the traffic problem - making the causeway one way going out of Waterview and prohibiting right turns from that neighborhood onto High Street.
One woman added to her wish that the causeway be closed, that she would like to see less traffic on King Street, which runs along Westhaven, as well.
``I don't think (traffic) should go through Westhaven,'' the woman said. ``It should go down Frederick and Airline - the streets that were designed for the traffic.
``MidCity might get a new push if people went past it instead of through the neighborhood,'' she said.
And she'll get no argument from Pitts on that.
One of his goals in working with the Midtown task force on the city's Vision 2005 plan is to make sure traffic is routed by businesses.
``One of the things that I see is the opportunity for the city to re-orient its traffic to go by our stores,'' he said. ``Maybe one of the reasons why our stores are suffering is because we're not putting the cars in front of them.''
Next to the Waterview issue, the highest number of calls were about London Boulevard as it comes into Olde Towne.
Unfortunately, a lot of motorists - including truck drivers - don't seem to notice the change from a six-lane highway to two lanes.
Edward C. Blonts didn't catch onto that traffic fact when he bought his historic home between Dinwiddie and Court streets. He was focused on the charming aspects of Olde Towne and the enthusiasm of neighbors who were breathing new life into old homes.
But after six years, he was one of about 16 callers who would like to see the two-lane portion of London become a one-way road with parking on both sides.
Parking is definitely a problem for the high density area, he said, but the traffic is a separate issue.
``This is supposed to be a residential 25 mph thoroughfare,'' he said. ``The people don't travel 25 miles. The average speed . . . is between 40 and 45.''
Blonts said that a nearby church has had to do repairs because of the commercial trucks using the road.
``My house is 113 years old,'' he said. ``It's been here a long time.''
But it's never had to deal with heavy traffic before, he said.
Both the mayor and the city's traffic engineer believe that the Gindroz plan will alleviate the London Boulevard problem.
Mayor Webb said her understanding of the plan was that parking would be allowed on both sides of London, which would narrow the lanes and make it less attractive to motorists looking for a fast route.
There would also be new signs at London and Effingham Street, diverting traffic out of the area, McDaniel said.
Blonts doesn't have a problem with that plan, but so far he has heard it mentioned only for the 600 block of London, where Vision 2005 calls for renovation of dilapidated houses.
He'd like to see the strategy expanded to Crawford Street.
What else is in the works for Portsmouth's streets?
The greatest amount of energy right now is going into getting the Pinners Point connector that would feed traffic from the Midtown Tunnel to the Western Freeway and the flyover would connect I-264 to the Western Freeway.
Vision 2005 calls for, among other things, revamping and straightening Frederick Boulevard so that it flows near Hamilton Street straight into London Boulevard.
Plans now also call for Cedar Lane from High Street to West Norfolk Road to be three lanes with a center turn lane.
Improvement of Churchland Boulevard to four-lane, from High Street up to Twin Pines Road.
Improvement of West Norfolk Road from Cedar Lane to Tyre Neck Road, two lanes.
Improvements to Towne Point Road.
Improvements to Twin Pines Road.
Widening to four lanes of Tyre Neck Road from the Portsmouth city line to West Norfolk road is in the six-year plan. MEMO: Related story also on page 8.
ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing on cover by JOHN EARLE
Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Ed Blonts is one of 16 callers who thinks London Boulevard in Olde
Towne should be one way with parking on both sides. ``This is
supposed to be a residential 25 mph thoroughfare,'' he said. ``The
average speed . . . is between 40 and 45.''
Graphic with map by JOHN EARLE
List of Portsmouth traffic complaints
KEYWORDS: TRAFFIC by CNB