THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409030479
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Hoping for a backdrop of angst-ridden motorists and holiday gridlock, Chesapeake city officials staged a roadside meeting Friday to push for federal funding for the often-clogged Route 168.
But on this Labor Day Friday, the traffic gods were more than kind.
As southbound traffic happily whizzed by, U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky tried to make his point. ``It is important to remember that traffic congestion will continue - not in the abundance that we see today,'' he said, grinning. ``But it will continue.''
As the region prepared to battle a tangle of metal, asphalt and rubber, the enemy was a no-show.
A hundred-mile survey found traffic running smoothly in Hampton Roads. And along all the major interstates, there was nary a congestive peep. State police reported no major backups.
Some traffic officials thanked the weather, with its overcast skies and cool weather. Others said traffic would hit the fan today, Sunday and Monday. Friday, they said, was the calm before the storm.
Dan Keane and his passenger Chris Burke were among a handful of holiday travelers whose traffic universe collapsed Friday.
``Actually, the only backup you see was caused by us,'' Keane said as his car creaked onto the back of a flatbed truck. ``Except for a dead car, we did pretty well.''
They expected to be backed up at the Hampton Coliseum. They weren't. They expected problems on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway. There weren't. And just when things were going smoothly and they hit the straightaway, their timing belt conked.
They were driving a Ford Escort. They had other names for the car.
Earlier in the day, Henry Stratton sat in his vehicle in the shoulder of Interstate 64 near the Greenbrier exit, baby-sitting a broken-down rental car.
Stratton is a motorist assistant aide for the state police, a man with a 22-gallon gas tank, two cases of flares and 6 gallons of water to help the stranded wanderer.
``So far, so good,'' he said, a tire gauge in his breast pocket.
``I've been doing this two years. Ain't too much I ain't seen and ain't done. You gotta be a little nuts to do this job. That's why they hire former cops, 'cause we're all nuts.''
A half-hour later, Frances Murray was surveying obedient motorists at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
Murray, a traffic control supervisor in the bridge-tunnel's control room, sat before 31 black-and-white television screens that showed every contour of the road. She pressed some buttons and activated flashing yellow lights at both tunnel entrances.
``It's just a little something to make them more conscious that there's someone in front of them,'' she said.
Traffic was congested. But for Murray, this was nothing.
``I don't sit here real pensive,'' she said. ``You don't plan for something here because it never happens the same way twice.''
At 3:44 p.m., 57,943 vehicles had used the bridge-tunnel since midnight. Last year on Labor Day Friday, 85,100 used the passage.
By 7:30, bridge-tunnel traffic was light. The flashers were off.
``This place is never normal,'' Murray said, ``but this is as close as it gets.''
Hoping for a backdrop of angst-ridden motorists and holiday gridlock, Chesapeake city officials staged a roadside meeting Friday to push for federal funding for the often-clogged Route 168.
But on this Labor Day Friday, the traffic gods were more than kind.
As southbound traffic happily whizzed by, U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky tried to make his point. ``It is important to remember that traffic congestion will continue - not in the abundance that we see today,'' he said, grinning. ``But it will continue.''
As the region prepared to battle a tangle of metal, asphalt and rubber, the enemy was a no-show.
A hundred-mile survey found traffic running smoothly in Hampton Roads. And along all the major interstates, there was nary a congestive peep. State police reported no major backups.
Some traffic officials thanked the weather, with its overcast skies and cool weather. Others said traffic would hit the fan today, Sunday and Monday. Friday, they said, was thecalm before the storm.
Dan Keane and his passenger Chris Burke were among a handful of holiday travelers whose traffic universe collapsed Friday.
``Actually, the only backup you see was caused by us,'' Keane said as his car creaked onto the back of a flatbed truck. ``Except for a dead car, we did pretty well.''
They expected to be backed up at the Hampton Coliseum. They weren't. They expected problems on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway. There weren't. And just when things were going smoothly and they hit the straightaway, their timing belt conked.
They were driving a Ford Escort. They had other names for the car.
Earlier in the day, Henry Stratton sat in his vehicle in the shoulder of Interstate 64 near the Greenbrier exit, baby-sitting a broken-down rental car.
Stratton is a motorist assistant aide for the state police, a man with a 22-gallon gas tank, two cases of flares and 6 gallons of water to help the stranded wanderer.
``So far, so good,'' he said, a tire gauge in his breast pocket.
``I've been doing this two years. Ain't too much I ain't seen and ain't done. You gotta be a little nuts to do this job. That's why they hire former cops, 'cause we're all nuts.''
A half-hour later, Frances Murray was surveying obedient motorists at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
Murray, a traffic control supervisor in the bridge-tunnel's control room, sat before 31 black-and-white television screens that showed every contour of the road. She pressed some buttons and activated flashing yellow lights at both tunnel entrances. ``It's just a little something to make them more conscious that there's someone in front of them,'' she said.
Traffic was congested. But for Murray, this was nothing.
``I don't sit here real pensive,'' she said. ``You don't plan for something here because it never happens the same way twice.''
At 3:44 p.m., 57,943 vehicles had used the bridge-tunnel since midnight. Last year on Labor Day Friday, 85,100 used the passage.
By 7:30, bridge-tunnel traffic was light. The flashers were off.
``This place is never normal,'' Murray said, ``but this is as close as it gets.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photos by David Hollingsworth
Cooler weather Friday kept people off the streets including Atlantic
Avenue in Virginia Beach, above, and off the beach at 24th Street
below.
by CNB