THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010299
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Ruth Brickhouse eyed a 9-foot-long aerial photo of the proposed Oak Grove Connector, which appeared as two yellow lines dividing her family's property in half.
One stripe ran through the middle of her sister's home, one of seven expected to be destroyed by the road.
The stripe cut Brickhouse's access to nearby Great Bridge Boulevard. It would force her to use a circuitous route to busy Battlefield Boulevard.
But Brickhouse said she didn't object to the upheaval.
``It doesn't bother me,'' she said. ``Progress has to come.''
The Oak Grove Connector, a road that has been on the state's books since 1965, went public Wednesday at Oscar F. Smith High School.
The public hearing was held in the main lobby of the high school. About 30 citizens showed up in the first hour of the three-hour meeting, surveying maps, talking with city officials and discussing everything from wetlands to property rights.
It was the first of several public information meetings that will be held to get input on the road's ultimate location.
The connector would link Interstates 64 and 464 to the Great Bridge Bypass - a route built years ago in anticipation of the connector, according to city officials.
The connector's main purpose is to reduce future traffic counts on Battlefield Boulevard between I-64 and the bypass, as well as Great Bridge Boulevard.
Battlefield Boulevard between I-64 and the bypass now handles between 55,000 and 70,000 vehicles per day. It is expected to see 108,000 vehicles daily by the year 2015.
The 2.5-mile, four-lane connector is expected to drop that to about 75,000 vehicles per day, just slightly higher than what Battlefield Boulevard is now handling.
There are still obstacles for the connector, including some serious environmental and personal impacts.
The road is expected to destroy 15 acres of non-tidal wetlands, which the city must replace with more wetlands elsewhere.
Seven family homes and two barns will have to be destroyed to build the road, and other homeowners also will be isolated from Great Bridge Boulevard.
Patrick R. Reynolds' home in the Glenleigh subdivision will survive, but it would end up against the proposed road. He worries about safety. But more than anything, he's worried about noise.
He said he has been told by engineers that there are not enough people living near the road to justify the high cost of installing sound walls.
After a location is finally approved by the council and the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the road's design process will begin, along with the purchase of rights-of-way.
In 1994, Del. J. Randy Forbes and Sen. Mark L. Earley, both from Chesapeake, got the state to agree to issue bonds for the Oak Grove Connector, then estimated at $31 million. The cost is now estimated at $36.6 million.
Chesapeake must repay those bonds and will supplement them with money the city has set aside for the project.
Public hearings on the road's design are scheduled for the spring. The purchase of land for the road is expected to take place between the fall of 1996 and 1997. Construction could begin as early as 1998.
The Oak Grove Connector once was viewed as a vital part of the long-planned Southeastern Expressway, a 21-mile road between I-64 and the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
But Chesapeake, which withdrew its support for the Southeastern Expressway in 1994, has maneuvered to make the connector a separate project. ILLUSTRATION: VP Graphic
Area Shown: Proposed Oak Grove Connector
KEYWORDS: PROPOSED ROUTE CHESAPEAKE BYPASS by CNB