THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502100237
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 198 lines
FOR 27 YEARS NOW, Chesapeake officials have wondered what to do about Route 168.
The long saga of the city's most overcrowded thoroughfare enters yet another phase this week, as city and state transportation officials conduct a public hearing on ways to ease traffic congestion along the road.
For decades, improvement of the road, known locally as South Battlefield Boulevard, has been held up by a lack of money and environmental problems. It still is.
Thursday's hearing, which is part of two federally required studies, will offer motorists another opportunity to speak to highway officials about their frustrations over the crowded highway.
Those who attend the hearing will be given information about Ride-share programs, high-occupancy vehicle or HOV lanes, alternate routes and other methods of reducing congestion on Route 168 short of improvements to the road itself.
``That's the purpose of the meeting,'' said Mary Ann Saunders, assistant to the city manager. ``But it'll be pretty hard for people to not ask about what's going on with the project.''
Virginia Department of Transportation officials and local officials will be on hand to answer questions about the status of the South Battlefield Boulevard project, its funding and the city's preferred plan of action. Those who are unable to attend Thursday's hearing can mail their comments to the office of the district administrator in Suffolk by Feb. 27.
The 10.2-mile Route 168 project stretches from the southern end of the Great Bridge Bypass to the North Carolina state line. The road is six lanes at Interstate 64, narrows to four lanes on the bypass and funnels down to two lanes for several miles south of there. It continues through Chesapeake to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the beaches and resort towns that attract thousands of tourists each summer.
The most recent development in the long search for a solution to the congestion along Route 168 is the possibility that the city will work with a private firm, Rebuild Inc., to form a public-private partnership to make needed improvements.
The roadway could be the first in the state constructed under a bill before the General Assembly that would allow businesses to build and operate parts of Virginia's transportation system as private toll roads. The company would be allowed to charge motorists for access to the road to make a profit and cover construction costs. Rebuild Inc. is currently studying traffic-flow projections, building costs and tax revenues.
Sponsored by state Sen. Elliot S. Schewel of Lynchburg, the legislation would allow private businesses to submit highway development proposals. The Virginia Department of Transportation and the Allen administration both support the privatization plan, known as the Proposed Public Private Transportation Act of 1995.
Chesapeake City Council first requested improvements to the road to the Outer Banks in 1968. Nearly three decades later, the road is still not built.
Route 168 now carries three times more traffic than it is designed to hold, according to city traffic officials. It has a capacity of 7,500 cars per day, and current peak weekend traffic has been counted as high as 28,200 vehicles with an estimated 80 percent of the traffic coming from outside the region.
The route serves as Chesapeake's main hurricane evacuation route, yet gridlock during the summer tourist season is common, posing a possible threat to the safety of citizens in times of emergency.
During Hurricane Emily in 1993, traffic remained at a standstill for about five hours on the first day of evacuation, as North Carolina residents and vacationers fled north on Battlefield Boulevard from the Outer Banks, Saunders said.
``The next time we have big storm, they might as well flee on foot,'' Mayor William E. Ward wrote in a letter to the editor of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star last October.
Ambulances headed south often require police escorts to skirt the congestion and emergency hospital flights are becoming more common on the weekends. Residents rearrange their schedules and routes to reach their destinations during tourist seasons. Last year, even Pizza Hut announced it would not make deliveries in certain Great Bridge neighborhoods because of the heavy traffic.
Ward lobbied for support last August by ordering flashing road signs that alerted weary motorists stuck in traffic with this message:
``TIRED OF RT. 168 GRIDLOCK? WHEN YOU GET HOME, WRITE TO CONGRESS.''
A U.S. House of Representatives transportation subcommittee last May approved giving the project $5 million of $9.5 million Chesapeake had requested, but the funding is likely to face fierce resistance in the Senate, Ward said.
Over the past 15 years, more than $40 million of local and state money have been spent in construction to better routes to North Carolina. This included lane widenings, traffic signals, turn lanes, the Great Bridge Bypass and a bridge over the Northwest River.
The city initially studied six alternatives to ease traffic congestion on Route 168 after the bypass was built in 1973. The alternatives were later narrowed to three: widening the existing road, constructing a separate parallel road or a combination of the two.
In 1988, the city adopted a resolution recommending a preferred alternative of a separate four-lane road. Due to stricter environmental laws implemented the following year, further evaluation of the project was ordered.
Chesapeake's road proposal, which would disrupt an estimated 118 acres of wetlands, is being reviewed under the National Environmental Protection Act. ``It's that or people's homes,'' Saunders said of the three alternatives.
As Virginia continues to struggle with the perennial road problem, North Carolina is poised to make much more headway, preparing to widen its portion of Route 168 from two lanes to five next month. The 18.5-mile $36 million project is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
But in Chesapeake, it seems, Route 168 will be as crowded as ever - perhaps even worse, as the traffic count on the road grows by an estimated 2,000 cars each year. MEMO: PUBLIC HEARING
Subject: South Battlefield Boulevard / Route 168
Date: Thursday, Feb. 16
Time: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Place: Southeastern Elementary School, 1853 South Battlefield Blvd.
Or write: C.A. Nash, district administrator, Virginia Department of
Transportation, P.O. Box 1070, Suffolk, Va. 23434.
A CHRONOLOGY OF ROUTE 168
1968 - Chesapeake City Council initially requests the South
Battlefield Boulevard project, including the Great Bridge Bypass.
1973 - The existing bypass is completed. Because of limited funding,
it remains the only completed segment of the project. The project is
10.2 miles long, extending from the southern end of the Great Bridge
bypass to the North Carolina state line.
July 1986 - Route 168 improvements are included in the city's
Commission on Transportation for the 21st Century Report.
October 1987 - The first citizen information meeting is held.
December 1987 - A meeting is held between Virginia Department of
Transportation officials and Chesapeake city officials to discuss
preliminary design features. The city indicates a preference for a
limited-access design at a new location.
March 1988 - Of six alternatives considered for easing congestion on
Route 168, city officials narrow the possibilities to three:
Widening the existing Battlefield Boulevard;
Constructing a separate four-lane road parallel to the existing
road;
A combination of the two ideas, in which the new road would start out
separate from Battlefield but join it with additional lanes.
The city adopts a resolution recommending a preferred alternative of
a separate four-lane road. Due to stricter environmental laws
implemented in 1989, the project has to undergo further evaluation.
May 1994 - U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky requests federal money to fund
the Battlefield Boulevard project, including $5 million for the project
in a three-year highway bill passed by the House of Representatives.
August 1994 - Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward tries to solicit the
help of tourists and commuters stuck on the clogged roads by erecting
flashing road signs reading, ``TIRED OF RT. 168 GRIDLOCK? WHEN YOU GET
HOME, WRITE TO CONGRESS.''
January 1995 - Chesapeake officials sign a letter of intent with a
private firm that had expressed interest in creating a partnership with
the city to develop the Battlefield Boulevard project. The company would
be allowed to charge tolls to make a profit and cover construction
costs. Gov. George Allen's administration and the Virginia Department of
Transportation both support the privatization plan, known as the
Proposed Public Private Transportation Act of 1995.
February 1995 - A public hearing is scheduled on ways to ease traffic
congestion along Route 168.
THE FUTURE (AS PROJECTED BY THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION):
March 1995 - North Carolina begins to widen its portion of Route 168
from two to five lanes. The 18.5-mile, $36 million project is expected
to be finished by the end of the year, according to North Carolina
transportation officials.
June 1995 - Chesapeake endorses a single, alternative route. A public
hearing is held in preparation of a draft environmental study for the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must approve the plan along with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
July 1995 - The Commonwealth Transportation Board endorses a route.
August 1995 - Resource agencies concur on selected alternative. Final
environmental impact statement is prepared.
October 1995 - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases final
environmental impact statement and public notices.
December 1995 - Army Corps of Engineers makes permit decision.
January 1996 - Design approval and implementation begins.
January 1997 - Public hearing is held on design.
March 1997 - Chesapeake City Council and Commonwealth Transportation
Board endorse design.
June 1997 - Right-of-way acquisition begins, if adequate funds are
available.
January 2000 - Department of Transportation advertises for bids, if
adequate funds are available. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
At Thursday's hearing, motorists will get to tell highway officials
about their frustrations with Route 168, which winds its way through
farm land in southern Chesapeake.
Route 168 is the main hurricane evacuation route for Chesapeake and
northeastern North Carolina.
Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
South Battlefield Boulevard improvements have been held up by lack
of money and environmental problems.
by CNB