THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 14, 1995 TAG: 9507130131
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: The Road Warrior
LENGTH: Long : 125 lines
Well, after a week's vacation, Road's back and badder than ever.
So bad, in fact, that Road's going to step aside and let someone else do the bashing in this week's column commentary.
Road chose a letter from Mack Simons. It's a few months old but the story line is still fresh. Here's what Mack wrote:
God Is Not a Garbage Man.
I like pickup trucks. They are fuel efficient, great for hauling stuff from place to place and besides they're neat, spiffy and carry a certain panache. The rear beds of these trucks are also a convenient place to place paper coffee cups, beer cans, newspapers and other assorted items that would require casual disposal. Here's the rub: all these light items that we place in the backs of these trucks are gone when we get to our destination. Like some modern day miracle - they're gone! Well, they're really not gone, they've just blown out of the back of our trucks onto our roadsides because as you might guess: God is not a garbage man!
This is just the casual observation of a frequent user of the local freeway system. A little forethought will help the roadsides of Tidewater preserve the look that I know we all enjoy and that make living here visibly different than most of the rest of the East Coast.
Amen, Mack.
SNARLS OF THE WEEK
The following people called Road's INFOLINE number with their complaints.
P. Stroud, no address given. I can understand why the shoulder is closed on Route 44 but I can't understand about the HOV-2 lanes. I think we've been hoodwinked because they told us when they put in the HOV-2 it would have a shoulder lane.
Why can't we do away with the HOV-2 while they're working on the shoulder lane? That's all I had to say, thank you.
RW: Actually, they're not working on the shoulder lane. They're working on the outside lanes of what used to be the toll booth plaza to remove a bump in the road. Eventually they will divert traffic to the outside and work on the inside lanes.
They're not opening the shoulder lane, eastbound, to traffic because those people would only have to merge as they got closer to the booth's former location.
It's not a bad idea if a long-term solution was needed, but the contractors have promised to wrap up this toll booth work by November and it may even be sooner than that.
As far as closing the HOV lanes, it's not as easy as simply saying it. We're talking about new signs and training people in a whole new way. When, basically, they've just caught on to how the HOV-2 is supposed to work.
Bob, Virginia Beach. I'd like to invite your attention to the intersection of FIRST COLONIAL and GREAT NECK ROAD.
I use First Colonial a lot coming around and turning north on Great Neck.
There's an entrance into the Farm Fresh shopping center and people in the right lane will slow up to make that turn and people will try to zoom around them on the left hand side.
Is there anyway you could maybe talk to engineers? There needs to be turn lane there to get into Farm Fresh and to get out of the flow of traffic.
There's going to be an accident and certainly a lot of hot tempers that flare up around there.
Thanks for your attention to the details.
RW: Apparently someone in engineering is in the midst of tackling this particular problem. Although, there haven't been any solutions offered as of yet, you can rest easier knowing that someone is at least investigating the possibilities.
Jeff, Ocean Lakes. I'm calling about the approaches to Oceana Naval Air Station. There's a single lane in each direction. Any plans in the future to widen these roads? They're quite congested in the mornings and the afternoons. I see several widening projects going on throughout the city.
Are there any plans for these roads as well?
RW: Actually, yes, there are plans to widen Oceana. The project is called First Colonial Road Phase III. It's being implemented by the Virginia Department of Transportation and is called the First Colonial project because First Colonial will cut across the northeast corner of Oceana and then align itself with Oceana Boulevard.
The road will then be a four-lane divided highway at the intersection of Virginia Beach Boulevard and First Colonial Road where it will drift east and align with Oceana which will continue on to General Booth Boulevard.
The project is in the design stages now, meaning it's still being drawn.
Construction is schedule to start April of 1996 and completion is expected sometime in April of '98.
Where Oceana Boulevard and General Booth Boulevard merge now will be realigned into Prosperity Road which feeds into General Booth Boulevard southbound.
So yes, Oceana will be improved one day.
Bill Kennedy, no address given. Calling in reference to your comment about the ROUTE 44 shoulder lane going toward the beach being closed.
We need to open it up from Newtown to Independence. I can understand having it closed from Independence to the toll plaza but there's no reason to have it closed before Witchduck and Independence. Maybe you can help out. What do you think? Thanks a lot.
RW: That does seem to make sense, Bill. The only problem is that there aren't many people out there who have grasped the shoulder lane concept enough to realize when they're open or not.
Those variable message signs are few and far between and people ignore them anyway. So, the end result would be a bunch of bozos weaving in and out of the shoulder lane and eventually having to merge over into the regular four lanes of traffic anyway. To an engineer, that would be a logistical nightmare, though throwing a few new signs out there doesn't sound like an impossible feat until you ask people if they can do it.
Chris, Kempsville. I'd like to know what is the status on the MILITARY HIGHWAY upgrade? Those guys have been working on that forever. It's like it's a career deal.
Also, I don't know why they don't enforce the HOV lanes on I-64 between Indian River and the I-264 cutoff. Man, that would be ripe hunting grounds for a policeman needing his quota for the week. Like to hear what you got to say. Thank you, Road. Bye.
RW: There have been some improvements to Military Highway. The most notable being that now you can actually drive down the road and take a sip of a drink without ending up with it all over you. A few months ago the thing was like a roller coaster. 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