THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 22, 1994 TAG: 9408220061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 134 lines
Fuming suburbanites might finally get some relief from the ditch-lined roads they've been forced to drive on: City officials are working on a plan to improve roads that carry far more cars than they were ever meant to handle.
But it all comes at a price. While the list of road projects is not yet final, city planners and council members are betting that citizens will agree to send Chesapeake as much as $60 million deeper into debt for wider shoulders and safer intersections.
On Tuesday, the City Council will decide whether to place a road-bond referendum on the November ballot.
``We're responding to what the citizens have asked for,'' said Public Works Director John A. O'Connor.
Even though the gravel is still fresh from roads repaired under the city's $30 million road-bond project in 1986, O'Connor said there are still plenty of cases of too many cars on too little road, and long stretches where residents can't safely pull over to change a flat tire.
``I have a list of $700 million of requests for projects to replace two-lane roads,'' O'Connor said. ``As far as I'm concerned, we could have road bonds every year and still have needs.''
But the question remains: Which needs will be met? One key factor facing the council is how to strike a balance between solving immediate traffic problems and anticipating the city's growth.
``It's just like schools,'' said City Manager James W. Rein. ``When you build them in excess of capacity, people ask who is going to fill them. Then when you build them just to capacity, they say, `Why weren't you looking ahead?' ''
At the same time, the council must find a way to spread projects far enough across the city to make them popular with voters citywide, while keeping the price tag low enough to assure voters of the city's ability to pay back the money.
As with past referendums, this year's proposal poses the same catch-22.
Some of the projects include widening Centerville Turnpike, Johnstown Road, South Battlefield Boulevard and Volvo Parkway.
``I probably shouldn't say this here,'' Mayor William E. Ward told council members last week, ``but there is a political dynamic we have to consider as well. The (public) is certainly going to look at what we come up with with a very critical eye.''
Ward supported adding two items to a $37 million proposal discussed by the council.
Much-needed repairs on the Jordan Bridge and along Indian River Road, he argued, would increase the plan's popularity in two areas that now make up the smallest pieces of the road-bond pie: Indian River and South Norfolk.
The council asked its committee to incorporate those items and other suggestions to widen Cedar Road and George Washington Highway, and repair the intersection at Georgetown Road and Military Highway.
``In terms of the amount,'' Ward said, ``if $50 million or $60 million meets the needs of the greater majority of people, they will vote it in.''
As the $37 million inched higher with each council member's suggestion, Councilman Robert T. Nance warned his colleagues to curb the list before it spirals out of control.
``If we keep putting in our pet projects,'' Nance said, ``we're going to be in never-never land again.''
The question, Nance said, was not which projects were needed. ``They're all needed. But it's a situation that's not going to make everyone happy as much as we want to try to make them happy. We're going to have to try to do what we can with what we have.''
The back-and-forth deliberations revealed lingering memories of the 1985 road-bond referendum, when voters defeated a $48.5 million plan put forth by the city.
If last week's proposal is any indication, the city will do the most in Great Bridge, the fastest growing section of the city.
For instance, one $8 million item will enlarge three miles of Johnstown Road from two lanes to four.
The repairs, O'Connor said, would ease congestion and increase safety on a road bordered by narrow shoulders and deep ditches. The new lanes will also cushion the impact of development that is just on the horizon, Councilman John E. Allen said.
Another $4 million will go to widen South Battlefield Boulevard from Johnstown Road to Hanbury Road and build a sidewalk along the stretch. ILLUSTRATION: Staff map
ROAD IMPROVEMENTS FOR CHESAPEAKE
Source: City of Chesapeake
For copy of map, see microfilm
BONDS AT A GLANCE
On Tuesday, Chesapeake City Council will decide whether to place a
road-bond proposal on the November ballot for a referendum vote.
Here are some things you need to know before the vote:
WHAT ARE ROAD BONDS? Road bonds enable the city to finance road
construction by borrowing money. The city sells bonds to investors;
then each year, it pays back the debt it owes with interest.
HOW DOES THE CITY PAY BACK WHAT IT BORROWED? The city can pay back
its debt by using future revenue, raising taxes, cutting services,
or some combination of the three. Officials say the city will be
able to pay its debt with money from future growth in the city.
HOW MUCH DOES THE CITY WANT TO BORROW? That depends on how many
roads the City Council wants to include. It will probably be more
than $37 million, and could be $60 million.
WHY IS THE CITY HOLDING A REFERENDUM? Each year, the city can
borrow up to $4.5 million in new debt, plus any amount of debt it
paid off in the previous calendar year. Once it reaches that limit,
the city must go to the people and ask them whether it can borrow
the money.
WHEN WILL THE REFERENDUM BE HELD? If the council puts it on the
ballot, voters will decide on Nov. 8.
WHEN WAS THE LAST ROAD-BOND REFERENDUM? In 1986, Chesapeake voters
passed a $30 million road bond referendum. Major projects included
the widening of Battlefield Boulevard, Greenbrier Parkway,
Campostella Road and Deep Creek Boulevard.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL BOND REFERENDUM
ROAD CONSTRUCTION
by CNB