THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 25, 1994 TAG: 9408250601
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Facing a transportation crunch and a logistical nightmare, the City Council has given the ailing Jordan Bridge a second chance.
In an 8-1 vote Tuesday, the council left the bridge's future in the public's hands.
But even if voters kill the measure to fund bridge repairs, the council has offered a short-term commitment to keeping the bridge open.
The council decided to hold a voter referendum in November, asking voters for permission to issue a mammoth $76.9 million in bonds for road improvements. That package includes about $2.4 million for repairs to the 66-year-old Jordan Bridge, which has been closed since May 10 after a mechanical failure.
Tuesday's decision goes against past sentiment of the council, which at one point had protested plans to spend just $400,000 to repair the bridge's broken pulley mechanism. Piecemeal repairs would not work, council members had said.
The council was swayed Tuesday by about 65 citizens from the South Norfolk Civic League and by news that the ailing Gilmerton Bridge would be closed for repairs in late 1996.
With the Gilmerton Bridge closed six to 12 months, about 30,000 vehicles a day would need an alternative to cross the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, which the Jordan Bridge also spans.
If the Jordan and Gilmerton bridges were closed at the same time, crossing the river in Chesapeake would become a fiasco, with commuters forced to take a round-about route through the Downtown Tunnel to cross the river.
``For me, anytime you keep a transportation link open, I'm for it,'' said John O'Connor, city public works director.
Preliminary studies by the state Department of Transportation show that closing the Jordan Bridge has had a significant impact on the Downtown Tunnel. In June, traffic at the tunnel increased an average of 6,440 vehicles per day.
During Tuesday's council meeting, Councilman John W. Butt wanted to spend $400,000 to fix only what is broken on the bridge.
But Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer and Councilmen Alan P. Krasnoff and Robert T. Nance said it would be more cost-effective to repair the entire structure.
The $2.4 million would be used to upgrade all four pulley shafts, replace cables, examine the underwater structure of the bridge, and replace and repair concrete and steel on the span deck.
Chesapeake officials estimated that the repairs would make the bridge operable for five years or more.
The Jordan Bridge was constructed in 1928. It was turned over to Chesapeake in 1977 by the private South Norfolk Bridge Commission and a 25-cent toll was created. That toll was increased to 50 cents in 1991.
But the bridge began to deteriorate in 1986 when repair costs exceeded toll revenues. Since 1980, $1.9 million in emergency and rehabilitative repairs have depleted the bridge's expense account.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL BOND REFERENDUM
by CNB