THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504270119
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: The Road Warrior
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
Hear ye, hear ye. Listen up.
The tollbooth officially closes at 12:01 a.m. June 1.
The booth may still be there but it'll be just a shell of a building and drivers will have the green light to cruise on through.
Same goes for the dime tolls at the exits. The green light will be on, so don't forget and throw away your good silver.
After the toll building is razed, there are plans to build a law enforcement truck inspection station. Contractors will begin tearing down the canopied tollbooth and dime machines by June 16. The posted speed limit during this time will be 40 mph. Since it'll be considered a construction zone, any faster than 40 mph will likely net you a $250 fine plus court costs.
Another closing to note: The Lynnhaven Mall branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles will officially close May 19.
DMV is consolidating the office because: 1) It's a mere five miles or so from the two full-service branch offices (3551 Buckner Blvd. and 229 Mustang Trail); 2) It's not a full-service branch anyway - you can't register or title new vehicles there nor can you take a driver's license road test; 3) It's a more ``efficient use of state resources,'' said Richard D. Holcomb, DMV commissioner, in a recent press release.
Employees who work at the Lynnhaven location will be transferred to other DMV offices.
The mall office averaged about 5,000 people a month. The Mustang Trail office helped about 11,000 people and the newer Buckner Boulevard office sees about 16,000 people a month.
Another heads-up comes courtesy of Jeanne Chenault, of DMV, who says that there are plans to raze the Mustang Trail office and build a new DMV office somewhere in the same vicinity, though probably not on the same lot.
Ground will be broken for the new building sometime in the next few months.
SNARLS OF THE WEEK
The following people called Road's INFOLINE number with their complaints.
Bruce Watson, no address given. Hey, on your note in the paper about calling 911. Next to the last paragraph, you say, call 911 and they want you to get the calls into them.
You might want to make a note if it's a cellular call, they're going to get the State Police and the call is going to be patched back through to local police.
So, there's going to be a delay in time. What people need to do is get a number and write it down in the car if they've got a cellular phone. That may save time and it might save some lives.
Matter of fact, we made one of those calls tonight about cars drag racing on I-64.
RW: Good point, Bruce. The phone number for cellular phone customers to report an emergency in Virginia Beach is 427-5000. If it's on an interstate, it would be the State Police, which is, as you say Bruce, 911.
M.G., no address given. A tongue-in-cheek question - Being from another state, I need someone to explain to me the Virginia rules for running a red light.
Do you decide whether to do it based on the number of cars in front of you or based on the number of seconds since the light went red? What is the cut off in either case? I once caught 14 cars in two lanes run a red light coming off I-64 onto Northampton.
I just need to know when it's safe to proceed straight through a green light in this part of the world.
RW: Actually, M.G., it's never safe to jump start a green light, no matter where you are.
Green doesn't seem to guarantee safety anymore.
And, Road guesses that most folks are looking at the car in front of them and gauging what that vehicle is going to do before they make a decision themselves about whether to run a light.
We seem to have that pack concept around here where if one person breaks the law, we all feel free to do so. That's unfortunate.
Joe Miller, Rosemont Forest.
I have a problem with the light at LYNNHAVEN PARKWAY and LISHELLE PLACE.
The light's always turning red for the Lynnhaven Parkway traffic early in the morning on my way to work for no reason. It's like it's on a cycle and doesn't need to be. Maybe they can make it flashing like all the rest of the lights by the mall. Appreciate it.
RW: Road'll have engineers check it out to see if it's feasible to make it flashing only during the early hours. The only problem Road could see is that Lishelle does cross Lynnhaven on the other side of the mall. Road's not sure if that's a neighborhood of commercial development, but there may be a need for folks to use that light in the morning hours.
Road'll let you know.
John Williams, Old Donation. I have a problem with N. WITCHDUCK ROAD and the corner of JERICHO ROAD.
The light at night, 10 p.m., needs to be put on blink. The southbound arrow is on the clock and there's just no use for it.
RW: Engineers may differ with you on this one, John. Jericho Road is a major cut through from Independence to Witchduck and although many folks aren't out at 10 p.m. driving around, there may still be several who use the road. Engineers aren't keen on making every signal flash just because it's dark and not rush hour. Nevertheless, Road will be happy to pass on your concern and see how your idea is accepted.
R.B., no address given. My complaint is on I-64 at the Virginia Beach/Chesapeake line, where they have extended the sound barrier so close to the road they have to have protectors up.
What engineer designed this?
Is he one that is also retiring one day? Let's hopefully suggest that maybe he doesn't get the money he's supposed to get.
Are they going to redesign this and move that sound barrier back so it's not a hazard? We just completed the twin bridges to widen them so people wouldn't slow down and now we have this sticking out in the middle of the highway.
RW: According to engineer Dennis Gribok, with the Department of Transportation, the sound wall does jut out right where four lanes are merged into two as you pass into Chesapeake (sort of near CBN).
Gribok says the wall juts out because a drainage ditch there forced the wall to be built with a curve so there wouldn't be drainage problems and the wall could be built over the ditch.
The barrier you speak of is temporary, but once the construction to add HOV lanes and widen I-64 from Battlefield Boulevard to Greenbrier Parkway gets a little closer, the barrier will be replaced with a permanent structure.
So, no, it doesn't sound like anyone will be tearing down that wall. And, according to Gribok, this design was a necessary part of erecting the rest of the sound wall. 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