THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512160020
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Between Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks the main artery is Virginia Route 168. But on the Virginia side of the border, it's no better than a clogged capillary. An adequate alternative is long overdue. Chesapeake City Council has now approved a final route. The next step is to fund and build the project, not in the next century but next week. The need is urgent.
The present road is an embarrassment to the state, an impediment to commerce and a danger to Chesapeake residents who live along it or depend on it for daily drives. In the summer months, the backups can be unbearable. Even in slow times the road is congested. No wonder. It was built to accommodate a third of the traffic it now is expected to carry.
Hampton Roads is a great port city with the chance to grow even larger, but it's long been hampered by an inadequate system of roads that complicate getting into, out of and around the region. For years, getting west to major interstates was a problem. The improvement of Route 58 has helped. Roads that permit a fast drive up the Peninsula to Richmond seem to stay just barely ahead of growing demand. Too few bridges and tunnels still cause bottlenecks getting around Hampton Roads. But Route 168 is as great a hindrance as any to the free flow of traffic through the region.
In some quarters there's been a concern that improving Route 168 could simply encourage more visitors to bypass Virginia Beaches to reach North Carolina beaches. But if travelers are aiming at North Carolina beaches, making the Virginia part of their drive as miserably unpleasant as possible is not likely to make them remember Virginia more fondly or want to linger here.
Besides, Route 168 is a two-way street, a fact that is too often overlooked. Hampton Roads has an inferiority complex if it assumes it has nothing to offer. An improved Route wouldn't just allow those bound for the Carolina coast to zip through, it could encourage those south of our border to zip into Hampton Roads - to shop at our malls, to visit our museums and cultural attractions, to take in a concert at the forthcoming Virginia Beach amphitheater or a Tides game in downtown Norfolk.
Improving Route 168 has taken a backseat to other issues that divide North Carolina and Vrginia, including the protracted dispute over Lake Gaston water. But that's a mistake.
An alternative to Route 168 is needed now, not later. It is needed whether North Carolina and Virginia are in perfect agreement on a myriad of other issues or at loggerheads. It is needed for the good of Chesapeake residents and the quality of life in Hampton Roads. It is needed as a spur to commerce. Funding it should become a top priority for the state. Now. by CNB