THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 9, 1996 TAG: 9602090434
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
Transforming Atlantic Avenue from a honky-tonk strip to a pedestrian-friendly pathway required a $47 million makeover.
Turning her ugly stepsister, Pacific Avenue, into something respectable may take a lot more.
Resort planners got their first look Thursday at what engineers could do with the secondary artery that flows north-south through the Oceanfront.
What they saw was a greener, wider boulevard where tourists wouldn't have to dodge traffic and motorists would be encouraged to take alternate routes.
Overhead utility lines would be buried, sidewalks would be paved and decorated with pastel brick-like pavers. New street lights, traffic signals, trees, shrubbery and sculptures would adorn street corners and medians.
The avenue also would be widened to three lanes in each direction, and turn lanes would be added. The cost would be $46 million to $68 million.
This was the vision of the now-cluttered Oceanfront street offered to resort planners by members of the Virginia Beach engineering firm of Langley & McDonald after they conducted a yearlong study.
The project is designed to dovetail with Atlantic Avenue improvements that are nearing an end after 10 years and $47 million.
The differences in the two projects lie in the details, members of the Virginia Beach Resort Area Advisory Commission learned, and some of the differences could prove to be controversial.
Basically, the plan calls for discouraging auto traffic on Pacific Avenue and offering visitors alternative ways to get to the beach, explained William Cashman, a principal in the consulting firm.
One option would be a regular and reliable public transportation service - a bus or trolley loop that would cover the three-mile resort strip every 10 minutes during summer months. Routes would be linked to outlying areas and shopping centers.
Second, the consultants recommend that auto traffic be dispersed along alternate streets branching from the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway exit at Birdneck Road. Approaching motorists could be shunted into east-west corridors, such as Laskin Road and Norfolk Avenue.
Pacific Avenue would be widened to about 80 feet throughout its length, and its drab contour would be jazzed up with landscaped median strips. North-south traffic would be restricted to 30 mph, a dip from the current 35 mph limit.
Also recommended is the closing of 19th Street, between Pacific and Arctic avenues - the site of the defunct Dome - and the one-way pairing of Laskin Road and 30th Street at the Oceanfront. This would facilitate future commercial development on adjacent property.
Drive-through businesses, such as fast-food restaurants, pizza-delivery outlets and the recently proposed Brew Thru, would be discouraged. They only add to traffic congestion, Cashman contends. Diagonal parking along the eastern leg of Laskin Road would be banned, as would parallel parking along Pacific Avenue.
The parking limitations, plus the one-way pairing of Laskin Road and 30th Street, could generate some heated resistance from nearby businesses and apartment dwellers. Parking is a scarce commodity along the busy street, and resort business owners always have been sensitive about suggested changes in traffic patterns.
Tentative plans call for construction to start in October 1997 and conclude in nine wintertime phases by May 2004, said Clay Massie, a member of the design team from the consulting firm.
The cost would vary, depending upon the funds needed to buy rights-of-way, pay for the underground installation of wiring and the fluctuating construction costs, he added. The plan will be reviewed by beachfront business organizations and civic groups before being forwarded to the City Council in March.
Like the Atlantic Avenue street-scape, the Pacific Avenue project would be financed through the city's Tourism Growth Investment Fund, which was approved by the City Council in 1991. The fund is fed by special taxes on resort hotel and restaurant sales, amusement and resort franchise fees, and is tailored specifically to tourism-based construction. ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP
1996
Pacific Avenue
1989 Atlantic Avenue
The Virginian-Pilot file photo
1996
GARY C. KNAPP
[Graphic]
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB