THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410120166
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
With Election Day just three weeks away, about 50 Chesapeake residents are preparing to educate voters about the city's $77 million road bond referendum.
The Road Bond Referendum Committee, formed earlier this month, has met several times to plan strategy for getting the word out, raising advertising funds and informing the public.
``I think it's basically a matter of educating the people about what the road bond referendum entails and what a road bond referendum is,'' said John Warren, a committee co-chairman.
Committee members have already begun to poll people about their opinions of the referendum in places such as Greenbrier Mall. Most of those polled seem to be in support of the bond issue, Warren said.
Voters will be asked to approve 20-year general obligation bonds to finance improvements at more than 26 locations throughout the city. The sites include bridges, highways and railroad crossings.
``The majority of these projects already have a recognized accident rate and volume ratio to capacity,'' said Edward Hall, president of the Las Gaviotas Homeowners Association, who was appointed as a committee co-chair by Mayor William E. Ward.
The section of Camelot Boulevard between George Washington Highway and Deep Creek Boulevard is one of the most accident-prone project areas, according to committee statistics. There are 8.24 accidents there per million miles driven. That's almost four times higher than the accident rate of Mt. Pleasant Road between Battlefield Boulevard and the Great Bridge bypass, which received a rating of 2.15 accidents per million miles.
The city plans to use $1,533,000 of the referendum money to widen Camelot Boulevard from two lanes to four lanes. In other areas, turn lanes, traffic signals, shoulders and gates for railroad crossings are planned.
One of the more costly projects calls for a ditch relocation and shoulder construction of Great Bridge's Cedar Road between Dominion Boulevard and Route 17.
The city also plans to acquire a 115-foot right of way lane for the $12.6 million project.
Another costly Cedar Road project proposes to widen the road between Albemarle Drive and Dominion Boulevard. That project's cost is projected at $6 million.
Most of the projects should be completed within two to four years, Hall said, and should not increase the city's real estate tax.
A $30 million road bond referendum in 1986 did not raise taxes, Warren said. ``The major thing that could change that is a downturn in the economy,'' he said. ``These projections take into account potential growth. . . and if there is a downturn, City Council can postpone some projects and still control any increase in taxes.''
Typically, the city has been able to pay off 20-year bonds within 12 to 15 years, Hall said. In the past decade, he added, only two of the nine non-utilities bond referendums passed, have raised taxes.
But Hall admits, ``I have not seen any referendum that did not face opposition.''
In the few weeks before election day, however, Hall and his committee members will continue visiting shopping malls, civic league meetings and other places to pass out literature and answer questions. by CNB