THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412080173
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Road Warrior
SOURCE: The Road Warrior
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Here it is a balmy 72 degrees outside and the Virginia Department of Transportation is sending out information about snow!
Guess the department was taken by surprise during last year's ice storm and the blizzard of '93. This year, they're taking no chances.
VDOT has $41.2 million set aside for snow removal. They've got 283,000 tons of salt stored up alongside 177,000 tons of abrasives and other chemicals. Last year's budget for snow removal was $40.6 million and we actually spent $67 million because of ice.
The department clears the interstate highways and high-volume priority roads (numbered 1-599) first and then medium volume primary roads (numbers 600 and above).
Individual cities are responsible for clearing city roads, with the exceptions of Route 44, I-64, I-664, I-264 and I-464. VDOT is responsible for those, too.
There are four new classifications for road conditions: not passable; passable, but significant delays will occur; passable with minor to moderate delays; and, the road is unaffected.
Snow tires or chains will be recommended for roads that are termed passable with moderate delays. The department says this equipment is a necessity for roads that are passable but having significant delays or are blocked.
And, please, whatever you do, don't pass the snowplows unless you have a clear view of what's in front of them.
If you're concerned about travel during a winter storm, you can call the department's Highway Helpline at 1-800-367-ROAD. The toll-free line offers up-to-the-minute updates on all of Virginia's major highways.
If you want local information, call the Suffolk district office at 925-2500.
One more tip Road offers: STAY OFF THE ROAD WHEN IT SNOWS. The drivers around here can't drive in rain, much less snow.
SNARLS OF THE WEEK
The following people called Road's INFOLINE number with their complaints.
Charlie Nash, Oceanfront. I called you about some real pretty tall cedars down by the Art Center barricade. Well, they're gone. They're all cut down. I didn't see if you answered my question about these trees.
Anyway, we're a day late and a whole bunch of trees short.
RW: Charlie, Road did answer your question in the column and asked that you call back with specifics about where those trees were. Sorry you missed it. Sorry we all seemed to have missed it.
Lisa Meis, no address given. Am I the only one who's going 45 mph on Route 44, toward the Beach? Did you know there's a sign on the one side that says, ``keep right'' and then the next sign says, ``right lane ends.''
Isn't that a little odd?
RW: Odd? Not in Virginia Beach, Lisa! The construction workers are moving around a lot out there, trying to finish one side and then the other, so it could be that they had a slight sign mishap out there. Or, one of those signs could be permanent and the other temporary because of the construction. There's just no telling.
Paul, Lagomar. Thank you for getting a ``no left turn'' sign from General Booth Boulevard onto Old Taylor Farm Road, near Oceana Naval Air Station. You saved accidents.
RW: On the contrary, Paul. You guys are the ones who saved the accidents by alerting Road and engineers to the problems. Kudos!
Tommy Davis, Pembroke Meadows/Shores. The problem is the light at Pembroke Boulevard at Independence. The light is entirely too short. There's always a back up. The engineers need to do something with timing the light.
RW: Road has sat at this light several times. Road thinks the problem seems to be that the people who are sitting there, 12 deep sometimes, don't pay attention and don't move as soon as that light hits green.
Anyway, that's just Road's guess. Traffic has picked up in that area, and it could be that the signal is no longer timed for the amount of traffic driving through. In any case, the Congestion Mitigation for Air Quality (CMAQ) timing project will indeed hit the signals of Independence Boulevard, retiming them to be more efficient. It's happening in some areas of the city as we speak. Independence will soon be done, too.
Bonnie Startt, no address given. I'm concerned that the traffic lines at the corner of Independence and Virginia Beach boulevards for making a left turn, has really gotten very long. About four cars tops get through each light.
Since you can't cut through the neighborhood anymore, we should have a longer light at the boulevard to compensate.
RW: You may think there's not enough time now for those left turners, you should have been around when Constitution was first cordoned off to through traffic. Believe it or not, one of the things engineers did when people were forced to use Jeanne Street was to tweak that signal to give the left turners more time. Maybe that timing pattern is out-of-date by now? In any case, CMAQ's the answer to all our traffic signal woes. Or, it's supposed to be.
Arthur Bish. When are they going to finish the torn up section of Indian River Road, heading west, just before Military Highway?
RW: The section of road you're speaking of is right before the intersection of Indian River and Military Highway. It's a rough surface that wasn't paved because the contractor is waiting for a utility project that is to be done on that corner. Once that project is complete (in the next year) the paving will be finished.
Mike, Judith Court. I have a problem with a school bus that parks every day in the court. It's a small court and parking is really limited.
I called the office of transportation for the school system on four different occasions and they tell me there's nothing they can do about asking the driver of this bus to move it to a main thoroughfare.
They say that they've turned it over to the Department of Transportation for the commonwealth. I can't believe that the school system can't ask their drivers to park the buses in an area that's more convenient for the neighborhood.
RW: It's true, Mike. Virginia Beach doesn't have any parking regulations when it comes to school buses. Drivers are allowed to park basically anywhere they want, as long as they're not parked illegally, obstructing the view of oncoming traffic, etc. That's why you were told it'd be passed on to city engineers. If engineers determine the bus is a safety hazard, it will be moved. If they don't, the driver can continue to park it where it sits now. MEMO: Tell the Road Warrior about your motoring problems. Get 'em off your
chest. Call on Infoline, at 640-5555. After a brief message, dial ROAD
(7623). When directed, press 1 to deliver your message, and 1 again to
sign off.
Or, write: The Road Warrior, Virginia Beach Beacon, 4565 Virginia
Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va. 23462.
Don't forget to include your name, address and neighborhood.
by CNB