THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220630
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
Though it has supported the proposed Southeastern Expressway several times, the City Council is poised to take a vote tonight that could cripple the 11-year-old project.
The decision on whether to keep pursuing the 20-mile highway linking Chesapeake and Virginia Beach may come down to one small piece City Council members consider critical for Chesapeake: a project known as the Oak Grove Connector.
The three-mile stretch of highway would relieve congestion on Battlefield Boulevard by connecting the Great Bridge Bypass to Interstate 464. Council members hope to keep the Oak Grove Connector on track even if they decide to reject the rest of the expressway.
``I think this council meeting will be the beginning of the end of the Southeastern Expressway,'' said Councilman Robert T. Nance, ``and I think Virginia Beach will follow suit.''
Nance, who has spearheaded the effort to abandon the new toll road, said he planned to put a motion on the table tonight to reject the highway.
``Whether you're Democrat, Republican or independent, how you could sign off on something that could cost close to a billion dollars and that could cut Greenbrier in half is beyond me,'' Nance said.
Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer said he planned to second Nance's motion, but he stressed that there were several other paths the council could take that could lead to the expressway's demise.
``It may not be as simple as `Am I going to support it or am I not going to support it?' '' Dwyer said.
One option would be to delay a decision until Virginia Beach votes on the proposal. ``It's a regional road, and we don't want to squelch the idea of regional cooperation,'' Dwyer said.
He said the council's decision should not be tied to the city's plans to complete the Oak Grove Connector.
``We don't hold to the philosophy that we have to be held hostage for the Southeastern Expressway,'' Dwyer said.
State officials conducted a public hearing at the Holiday Inn in Greenbrier Monday night to gather input on the expressway. The information will be forwarded to federal highway and environmental agencies that have to approve the road.
State Sen. Mark L. Earley, who represents Chesapeake, also called on the state Monday to scrap the expressway and instead expand Battlefield Boulevard.
``The road alleviates no discernable traffic need and would disrupt the lives and homes of many Chesapeake and Virginia Beach residents,'' Earley said of the expressway.
He said the need for expanding Battlefield Boulevard, ``a federally designated hurricane evacuation route,'' was ``clear to everyone.''
Earley also said the state should allow the Oak Grove Connector to continue in Chesapeake without being tied to the expressway.
``We have done all of the environmental work on the Oak Grove part,''said Nicholas L. Konchuba, a supervisory environmental scientist with the Army Corps of Engineers.
The results of that work, Konchuba said, will stay the same regardless of the name of the project.
``There are certain steps that would have to be carried out,'' he said, ``but they would not have to start all over again acquiring all that information.''
But M. Frank Dunn, a transportation planner with the Virginia Department of Transportation, said the data obtained by the Army Engineers is just a small piece of the clearance process.
The connector would be evaluated differently if it is no longer a part of the expressway, he said.
``The data that's been accumulated so far is still good,'' Dunn said, citing as an example federal concerns over wetlands. ``But you've changed the whole scope of the project. The beginning and end points are no longer the same.
``You have to start with the basic question: `What are the problems, the conditions this area is experiencing that this connector would address?' ''
Answering that question will involve identifying everything from traffic patterns to population projections to safety and evacuation needs for the area, he said.
``All that information changes if you cut off 90 percent of the expressway,'' explained Ken E. Wilkinson of VDOT's environmental division.
Wilkinson estimated the purpose and need examination could delay plans for the Oak Grove Connector as long as a year.
Some City Council members say a year is too long to wait for that link.
``The Oak Grove Connector is so vital,'' said Councilman W. Joe Newman. ``We are so close to getting it that I don't want to mess it up by pulling the plug on the expressway.''
At $31 million, the connector could be the answer to many commuters' prayers: Chesapeake residents driving to downtown Norfolk could bypass congested traffic on Battlefield Boulevard, while drivers headed for North Carolina from the I-64 could avoid traffic jams along North Battlefield Boulevard.
If Nance's motion to abandon the expressway is approved, the action could tip the scales against a road that has been plagued with delays at the federal, state and local levels since its inception in 1983.
``The potential is that it could kill the project,'' said VDOT spokesman William J. Cannell. ``It's Chesapeake's land, and their unwillingness to support the project makes it difficult to build anything.''
Nance insisted Monday that the expressway was not in the public interest.
``Everybody has been asking me the same question since this all started: ``Why is this road being pushed so hard? And who is pushing for it?''
But others in the region are asking a different question: Why is Chesapeake so adamant about killing the project now?
``I think we've got an obligation to at least pick the route on this thing, acquire right of way,'' said Virginia Beach City Manager James K. Spore. ``Even if you held it in reserve for 10 years, at least you preserve the option in the corridor to do something. I'm afraid Chesapeake's going to short-circuit it.''
Spore pointed out that his city's expressway to Norfolk faced similar opposition when it was built in 1967. While the need for a highway may not be evident now, Spore said, anticipating that need is key to diffusing long-term traffic problems.
``It's not realistic to have a city of 500,000 people in a cul de sac,'' he said. ``We have the worst interstate highway access of any city in the United States of our size.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY/
Residents trace the route of the Southeastern Expressway on an
aerial photograph during a public hearing at the Holiday Inn
Greenbrier on Monday. The information gathered at the hearing will
be forwarded to federal highway and environmental agencies.
Staff map
Area shown: A proposed Southeastern Expressway
KEYWORDS: SOUTHEASTERN EXPRESSWAY PROPOSED by CNB