THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 31, 1995 TAG: 9505310468
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
If history is any indication, get ready for some increased traffic when the tolls are removed from the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway at midnight tonight.
And confusion is likely to add to the congestion. Employees at the Downtown Tunnel, where tolls were removed in 1986, recall motorists pulling up to the former toll plaza, looking around in disbelief at the missing booths and dropping their coins on the ground.
In Hampton Roads' past, traffic volume has increased when tolls have disappeared.
It's usually a short-term predicament, say local transportation officials, but one that could cause some headaches for area commuters using the soon-to-be-free expressway.
When tolls came off the Downtown and Midtown tunnels connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth, traffic increased considerably. At the Midtown Tunnel, the volume increased 20 percent in just four months, rising from 33,000 toll-paying vehicles per day to 40,000 vehicles per day.
Downtown Tunnel traffic increased about 10 percent over the same period, according to Virginia Department of Transportation statistics.
``After that, it was a whole new world,'' said C.W. Catlett, tunnel safety supervisor, who was a lieutenant for the Downtown Tunnel's police force in 1986.
``People have this illusion of getting something for free,'' said Catlett, who has been with the Downtown Tunnel for 31 years. ``I think it was a thrill thing for a while.''
Truckers on citizens-band radios referred to the tunnel as ``the hole in the wall'' because of its narrowness and traffic. Both the Midtown and Downtown tunnels were at capacity at the time their tolls were removed.
At that time, the Downtown Tunnel had one lane for each direction of travel. When the second tunnel was opened a year later, it helped reduce congestion considerably, Catlett said.
``The facilities were at capacity anyway,'' said Jim Harrison, resident engineer for tunnel facilities. ``With the Downtown Tunnel, it was hard to tell whether it was the toll plaza or whether it was the tunnel that was restricting traffic.''
Traffic congestion is still a major problem at both facilities. At the Midtown Tunnel, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission did a study in 1990 that showed the average car on Hampton Boulevard at 3:30 p.m. traveled around 5 mph - about the speed of a riding mower.
The expressway toll plaza, which will be dismantled in about two weeks, has served as a ``traffic valve'' for Route 44, controlling the flow of traffic traveling east and west. Without that valve, transportation planners worry that pockets of congestion will clog the exit ramps as well as arterial roads surrounding the expressway.
Accidents are another concern.
When tolls were removed from a section of Interstate 95 outside Richmond, accidents went up 44 percent.
The main cause was backups at exit ramps. Traffic on the highway was unhampered by the tolls, but local exits quickly became clogged with vehicles, and the jams backed up onto the interstate, where they became a hazard.
State police hope to combat this problem in Virginia Beach with a round-the-clock presence at the toll plaza. The speed limit will be 40 mph through the area, and fines for speeding could be as high as $250, plus court costs.
However, transportation experts are more worried about accidents around exit ramps, which could back up onto the expressway.
``After the tolls are removed, it becomes a completely different road - a 12-mile stretch of highway with no stops on it,'' said Tammy Van Dame, spokeswoman for the state police.
``People are still going to have the feeling that they're going to want to slow down in that area. But we'll have the troopers there around-the-clock for two weeks while construction is going on.''
KEYWORDS: TOLLS REMOVAL by CNB