THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050781
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 174 lines
An unusual sign on the side of South Battlefield Boulevard today catches the bleary eyes of many a stressed-out, traffic-crunched tourist stalled on the way to North Carolina's Outer Banks.
``TIRED OF RT. 168 GRIDLOCK?'' flashes the sign. ``WHEN YOU GET HOME, WRITE TO CONGRESS.''
Don't blame the motorists. This sign comes courtesy of the city of Chesapeake.
The city has begun an unprecedented lobbying effort for federal funds and a new four-lane road.
Battlefield Boulevard, officially known as Virginia Route 168, is six lanes at Interstate 64, narrows to four lanes on the Great Bridge Bypass, funnels to two lanes south of there, and remains two lanes all the way to the North Carolina state line.
The road is carrying three times more traffic than it is designed to hold. It has a capacity of 7,500 cars per day. Current peak weekend traffic has been counted as high as 28,200 vehicles, with an estimated 80 percent of traffic coming from outside the region. Gridlocks last so long that some motorists leave their cars and socialize.
For Chesapeake officials, residents - not tourists - are the issue. ``Return the Road to Our Residents'' is the unofficial name and focus of the city's effort.
``If tourists go another way, we don't care,'' said John
O'Connor, the city's director of public works. ``We want our road back.''
Battlefield Boulevard has had city officials frustrated for years. Fire departments along the 10.2-mile two-lane section are delayed as much as halfan hour by weekend traffic.
Ambulances headed south often require a police escort to skirt the congestion. Emergency hospital flights are becoming common on weekends because emergency vehicles can't get through.
The road also serves as the main hurricane evacuation route for the Outer Banks.
During Hurricane Emily last year, traffic came to a halt several times during the final day of evacuation as residents and vacationers from the Outer Banks fled north on Battlefield Boulevard, O'Connor said.
But residents along the road are hurt most. Almost all have a horror story.
One man told city officials he had to wait for 150 cars to pass before he could pull out of his driveway.
Pastor Harry Vanderford of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Chesapeake hired off-duty police officers to stop traffic so parishoners could get home from church.
But because of dwindling funds, the church couldn't afford them this year. As a result, church attendance is down 25 percent.
``It's just too hard for people to get here,'' Vanderford said.
``I've seen it just become a parking lot out there,'' he said. ``You just see all these people walking outside their cars. There's nothing they can do.''
Despite the need for a new road, the city still faces some daunting challenges before construction could begin.
It needs environmental clearance, federal funding and more money from the state, which would build the road.
What's more, Chesapeake wants the project to come together before North Carolina finishes widening its section of Route 168. North Carolina recently approved funds for the work, which could begin next year and finish in 1998. If Virginia's project lags behind, the bottleneck could grow far worse.
City officials are pressing the flesh in Washington, writing letters, testifying before Congress, lobbying The Washington Post for stories and offering fliers to Outer Banks tourists to garner support for $9.5 million in federal funds.
The construction of a new parallel road is Chesapeake's No. 1 priority, says Mary Ann Saunders, an assistant to the city manager. But lengthy environmental reviews and a lack of state and federal funding have kept the $113 million project in limbo for years.
A House transportation subcommittee in May approved giving the project $5 million of the requested $9.5 million in start-up costs.
But the funding faces fierce resistance in the Senate, the bill's next stop.
City staff members have been evaluating for years whether the new road should have tolls. City officials have said a $1 toll could generate $20 million.
``If we put a bushel basket out there on the weekend, people would be willing to pay a $20 toll to get past this gridlock,'' said Chesapeake Councilman W. Joe Newman at a recent work session.
Chesapeake's road proposal, which would disrupt an estimated 118 acres of wetlands, is being reviewed under the National Environmental Protection Act. Environmental approval, engineering and right-of-way acquisition could be done by 1998.
In the past, environmental approval has been the road's biggest hurdle.
Wetlands that are part of the Northwest River watershed could be disturbed by the new road. The project is also within range of the Dismal Swamp shrew, which is on the federal threatened-species list. The Army Corps of Engineers has been evaluating the road since 1989.
Meanwhile, residents along Route 168 are practically trapped. Many avoid going out at all during the height of weekend travel.
Susan Fenwick, a new-accounts clerk at the Bank of Currituck in Moyock, said that a 5- to 10-minute drive from her home to the beach sometimes takes as long as an hour. ``You get to the point,'' she said, ``where you don't want to see Memorial Day come.''
Southbound traffic sometimes backs up 10 miles to Mount Pleasant Road.
On some Fridays, traffic backs up the length of Battlefield Boulevard to Interstate 64.
``We've been trying to go the proper route for years and years, but now we're just wrapped up in the process,'' said Bernard L. Whitlock, Chesapeake's traffic engineer. ``It doesn't appear that we've gotten anywhere. We still don't have a road and don't have the funds to build it. I guess it's just reached a frustration point. And traffic is growing and growing and growing.''
What's next for the road? Some Chesapeake officials are wondering whether they could stop traffic from taking the Battlefield Boulevard exit on Interstate 64 until traffic thins out on the busy road.
In the meantime, the city's rented road sign will remain in use every weekend until after Labor Day.
``When they get down to that gridlock,'' O'Connor said, ``at least they see something that will help solve the problem.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
STEVE EARLEY/Staff
Sign of frustration: This message greets motorists along South
Battlefield Boulevard today.
Map
JOHN EARLE/Staff
SOURCE: City of Chesapeake
Graphic
ACCIDENTS
Accidents on Route 168 in Chesapeake:
1994 (through July)
Accidents 28
Fatalities 1
Injury accidents 18
1993
Accidents 58
Fatalities 0
Injury accidents 27
1992
Accidents 76
Fatalities 2
Injury accidents 34
1991
Accidents 61
Fatalities 1
Injury accidents 27
1990
Accidents 93
Fatalities 0
Injury accidents 58
Since 1979 there have been 15 fatal accidents on Route 168 within
the study area for the new road. Eight fatal accidents have occurred
since 1986.
KEYWORDS: ROUTE 168 CHESAPEAKE ACCIDENTS TRAFFIC
STATISTICS by CNB