THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 25, 1994 TAG: 9411250042
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Martinez, the top state official for transportation, spoke in the wake of Tuesday's decision by the Chesapeake City Council to oppose the highway. About five of the 20 miles of the highway would run through Chesapeake; the rest would be in Virginia Beach.
Martinez said he would talk more with elected officials from Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, particularly legislators.
``If we get a clear indication of popular sentiment that they oppose this project, particularly a consensus among elected officials, then clearly that would'' kill the project, Martinez said. ``What the City Council did in Chesapeake Tuesday is very significant.''
Martinez pointed out what many in the highway business know: With road projects, deaths are often temporary.
``If a project is killed and there is an overwhelming consensus, it stays killed,'' Martinez said. ``But if there are people on the other side, it can always resurface.''
Martinez said the Southeastern Expressway, with a cost estimate of $500 million, was not on the verge of construction, even before Tuesday's 7-2 vote. The road had as many financial obstacles as political.
``There is absolutely no money available for construction of this project,'' Martinez said. ``You don't have to throw yourself in front of the bulldozer on this one.''
The road is on the state's six-year project list. Maguire Associates, a private consulting group in Virginia Beach, has a Virginia Department of Transportation contract to do environmental and design work necessary for any federal approval of the road.
Killing the project would mean ending the state's contract with Maguire and removing the highway from the six-year list, Martinez said. The state would probably choose to stop submitting plans for a federal environmental review, as well.
Martinez said he might allow Maguire to continue the current phase of its work if the consulting group is on the verge of finishing work specified under its contract.
``It might be worth it because so much work has done,'' Martinez said. ``That wouldn't be taking a position on anything.''
Martinez said he would consult on any decision with the Commonwealth Transportation Board, state Highway Commissioner David Gehr and local legislators.
Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake, opposes the highway. Del. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, said he sent a letter to Martinez on Wednesday saying the state should widen South Battlefield Boulevard and Route 17 before building the Southeastern Expressway.
Forbes said the Southeastern Expressway would siphon money away from other city projects. He doubted the highway could be built totally with toll revenues.
``You can only go to the well so many times,'' Forbes said.
Although only Chesapeake has taken a firm stand against the project, some City Council members in Virginia Beach oppose the project. The Beach council, however, has not scheduled a new vote on the highway.
But even if both councils vote down the project, future councils could try to reverse the decision.
Jeffrey Warliski, a transportation planner for Norfolk, recalled a neighborhood group that wanted a city council to pledge never to build a highway.
But an attorney told the council that wasn't legally possible.
``One council can't bind the hands of a future council,'' Warliski said. ``You can never say never.''
William J. Cannell, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said VDOT never throws away design and engineering work, because projects often resurface.
``We wouldn't throw away anything on the Southeastern Expressway,'' Cannell said. ``With the amount of work that has gone into it, we are not just going to throw everything away.''
The project has cost $4.5 million in state money so far.
Many drivers now use roads that were rejected or postponed at least once before construction, Cannell said.
Workers are now widening Route 10 in Suffolk, Cannell said. But the project was first proposed, and abandoned, in the 1960s.
``We dusted off that project, revived it, and now it's under construction,'' Cannell said.
But an enormous project like the Southeastern Expressway could be difficult to revive once substantive work is stopped, Cannell and other officials said. Homes and businesses must be kept out of the right-of-way.
Financial and environmental go-aheads can become difficult as time passes.
``Ten years from now, the city of Chesapeake may say we need to look at the Southeastern Expressway again,'' Cannell said. ``And that might be the time it needs to be built. But if it is revived, we will go back to the people see what they think about it.''
KEYWORDS: SOUTHEASTERN EXPRESSWAY by CNB