Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 27, 1991                   TAG: 9102270599
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

FEWER CARS, TOLLS IN HAMPTON ROADS/

The number of vehicles has dropped as much as 20 percent on area roads in the past six months, and highway fatalities in Hampton Roads and Virginia have declined by about one-third so far this year from 1990, highway officials said.

But the decline in vehicles has meant a decline in tolls.

Traffic volume on the Jordan Bridge over the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River has fallen by 15 percent to 20 percent since September. Toll collections dropped so much that "for a time . . . we were having trouble making ends meet out there and paying the bills" for bridge maintenance, said John O'Connor, director of Chesapeake's Public Works Department.

O'Connor said the drop can be traced to the absence of ships at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth.

"Our traffic counts on the bridge used to average 8,000 to 10,000 vehicles a day," O'Connor said. "There was always a carrier in there undergoing some kind of repairs, and those carriers have about 6,000 people attached to them."

Traffic spotters who broadcast rush-hour reports have also noticed the difference - especially in traffic bound to and from the Norfolk Naval Base. The stretch of highway from the Interstate 64-Virginia 44 interchange to Terminal Boulevard in Norfolk "used to be a grind every day from about 6 a.m. to 8 or 8:30," said Don DeIulio, a traffic observer.

"But we've seen a big decrease. Commuters are doing 35 to 45 mph again along there."

Capt. William Johnson of the state police said the number of traffic fatalities in Hampton Roads stands at 11 so far this year, compared with 24 at this time last year.