THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408250144
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Road Warrior
SOURCE: The Road Warrior
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
For those folks who couldn't get out and attend the public hearing hosted by the Virginia Department of Transportation last week on the design and location of Salem Road, here's the project details presented at the hearing:
Salem Road will be widened from two to four lanes from Ferrell Parkway to Rock Lake Loop. The road will be widened from four to six lanes from Ferrell Parkway to Lynnhaven Parkway.
The widening includes curbs and gutters, sidewalks, street lights, raised median, scenic buffers and a bikeway on 1.2 miles of the new road. The project's cost is slightly more than $6 million.
The only aspect of the project that could be up for discussion is the scenic 15-foot buffers that will be behind the sidewalks.
The buffers go over the city's right-of-way, meaning the city will have to purchase about $1.5 million worth of right-of-way access from several dozen property owners along that stretch of road.
That doesn't mean the property owners will be bought out and relocate. The right-of-way needed doesn't encroach on anyone's house, but it could be a tight squeeze.
The road won't be near anyone's front door, but the scenic buffers could become a part of the landscaping near the homes.
Anyway, about 53 people attended the meeting and their resulting comments haven't been tallied yet. Remember, residents have 10 days from Aug. 17 to comment on the matter. All comments are taken into consideration, so if you think you have a better idea, you may want to let it be known now.
Assuming council approves the project in the fall, the job will be advertised for bid in the summer of 1996 and construction won't likely be finished until the end of 1997.
SNARLS OF THE WEEK
The following people called Road's INFOLINE number with their complaints.
Jim Sibley, Riverton. Indian River Road west intersecting with Military Highway was recently resurfaced and restriped. However, about 100 feet of Indian River Road west where it intersects with Military Highway was not resurfaced. The old top layer of this 100 foot section was removed and nothing further was done, leaving a very bumpy road. Can you please find out why this section was not completed? Thanks.
RW: No problem, Jim. Road talked with Dan Kiley in paving and he said that the paving was supposed to be coordinated with the state improvement project going on on Military Highway, but because that project's completion date has been pushed to next year sometime, the paving couldn't be coordinated. So, as for the 150-foot section that's not paved, the guys who do Military Highway are going to drop in a new sewer line, then they'll pave that section of the road. It probably won't happen before the next six months though.
Marie, Glenwood. I have a question about Pleasant Valley Road up to Lynnhaven. Why is that 25 mph? There are no driveways that lead into Pleasant Valley and there's always a cop hanging out there to give speeding tickets, and of course, I have gotten one. The only thing is, there's a fire department at the end of Lynnhaven, other than that, we're not sure. All our neighbors want to know.
RW: A few years ago a study was done between Lynnhaven and all the way down to Indian Lakes and it revealed that the speed limit needed to be increased.
As for your part of Pleasant Valley, engineers aren't sure as to why the speed limit is 25 mph. All they can say is that they'll schedule a new speed study for your side of the road to see if maybe that speed can be increased a bit. We'll see.
Ann James, Kempsville. Help, help! Once again I have been the almost middle victim of an accident between the cars in front of me and the cars behind me at the intersection of Rosemont Road and Lynnhaven Parkway South at the Breeze Inn. Number one, the driveway's too narrow for a car to come out and for one to enter. Number two, the trees block the entire view in and out. The solution is to widen the drive, eliminate the trees and post signs warning the drivers of pending stopped traffic.
RW: The city will be happy to take a look at the those trees to see if they are a view obstruction. As for the driveway to the convenience store, that's private property and should be addressed by the owners. You may want to mention it the next time you stop in there for a soda.
William Clarke, No Address Given. In the general area of Lynnhaven and Indian River. Specifically, there's an intersection at Settlers Park Drive and Indian River Road. There's a little left-hand turn there, these lights are controlled by electronics, I guess buried in the ground.
When you would approach this light before you usually had to wait about 10 seconds or so if everything was clear. Now you can wait over a minute with no traffic going anyway. The light just sits there on red compared to what it used to be. It's a very lightly used area.
RW: Road hopes that we're talking about the same area and if we are the deal is that the guys in engineering adjusted that light to discourage folks from turning left there. Engineers want folks to continue straight on Indian River to Indian Lakes Boulevard and then left onto Ferrell Parkway. That will run you right back into Indian River.
Only those that live in that section of Indian River should be turning left at Settlers Park Drive and Indian River.
Jeffrey Bagden, Red Mill. This a little off the beaten path. One of the big things that bothers me is the stupid grass and leaf blowers that the maintenance guys use. I saw one of the most asinine things I've ever seen the other day - a worker was blowing the cigarettes away from the curb on Independence Boulevard. All they're doing is blowing the cigarettes into the street and the cigarettes are going to get right back where they started. It just seems like they could pick the things up.
Just wanted to see if there's anything you can do about it.
RW: Yep, it does seem like they could pick them up. But, that's not what they're being paid for. According to Landscape Services with the city the ``blowers'' are sent out after mowing so that they can blow the grass clippings back up on the sidewalk, keeping them from getting into the storm drains. So, they're not out there to pick up trash. That's another batch of people altogether. by CNB