DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997             TAG: 9703120419

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   38 lines

PLANS FOR TRAIN CROSSING NEAR NORFOLK PORT WILL GO BEFORE PUBLIC AN UNDERPASS AT GREENBRIAR AND HAMPTON WOULD EASE CONGESTION.

Road planners have developed three alternatives for building an underpass on Hampton Boulevard at Greenbrier Avenue to keep cars and trains separated near the Norfolk International Terminals.

Citizens are invited to review the options and offer suggestions to Virginia Department of Transportation officials today, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Sewell's Point Elementary School.

The $12 million to $14 million project would improve access to the port, improve traffic flow by eliminating a railroad crossing, and eliminate automobile-train conflicts.

The intersection gets heavy commuter traffic from Norfolk Naval Base and the terminals as well as from local residents.

Studies show traffic on this section of Hampton Boulevard will increase from 40,500 vehicles a day today to about 51,000 vehicles by 2015.

Also by 2015, train lengths will double from 3,000 feet to 6,000 feet and train frequencies will increase from three crossings a day to four.

The city had asked for an underpass rather than an overpass to limit the impact on surrounding neighborhoods, which include Glenwood Park.

No homes will be displaced, but a few businesses will be taken, said George T. Rogerson Jr., VDOT project manager.

The new road will continue to be a six-lane divided roadway with a raised median. Bicycle lanes will be added.

During construction, traffic will be temporarily re-routed near the existing Hampton Boulevard with a minimum of two lanes in each direction.

Transportation planners will soon begin preliminary designs for a similar, but larger, underpass at another Hampton Boulevard rail crossing at Terminal Boulevard.

The $50 million project has not yet been funded and is more controversial because of its proximity to Loch Haven and other neighborhoods.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu