THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510190358
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Hampton Roads' leaders on Wednesday decided that Norfolk should not lose its stretch of Interstate 64.
The road was in no danger of disappearing, but a state traffic consultant had recommended that the section that passes through Norfolk be renamed Interstate 864.
The name change, the consultant contended, would have helped speed traffic through the area and reduced congestion at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
Vehicles headed to Virginia Beach or the Outer Banks would have been diverted over the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel by merely renaming that route I-64.
Norfolk officials protested that the name change would have ``unnecessarily damaging consequences'' for their city.
So the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission on Wednesday voted to keep I-64 running into Norfolk while renaming as I-664 the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway and a part of I-64 that heads into Chesapeake.
That didn't please Virginia Beach officials, who supported the consultants' plan because it made their city the final destination on I-64, which now stretches from St. Louis to Chesapeake. The Beach lost the name-change battle, 17-11.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board will make the final decision on the road names, but local city officials said that it is likely to go along with the planning commission's advice.
The consultant had recommended routing I-64 through the newer bridge-tunnel and into Virginia Beach to assist out-of-state travelers, who would find a single road name easier to follow on trips to the Beach or the Outer Banks.
The drive, though 17 miles longer, would also take about the same time during peak travel periods, the consultant said, because it would bypass backups at the chronically congested Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
Norfolk officials countered that it would make their city a secondary destination. Following the consultants' advice and renaming I-64 in Norfolk to I-864 would put the city on a ``sidetrack,'' said Norfolk Councilman Mason C. Andrews.
``It will have very unattractive consequences,'' Andrews said. ``It will make our city accessible by a secondary route.''
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel is well over capacity. About 76,900 vehicles a day used the span last year. By comparison, the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel saw an average of 29,400 vehicles per day last year - well below its capacity.
There were delays of 15 minutes or more at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel for nearly half the days in 1994, up dramatically from the previous year.
Directing beach-bound traffic through the new span was projected to reduce traffic on the old one by 20 percent, the state's consultant said.
KEYWORDS: HIGHWAY NAMES by CNB