THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603230107
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
City innkeepers want to take a long, hard look at the recently released Pacific Avenue corridor study before passing judgment on it.
Resort hoteliers are waiting to see if major changes should be made before endorsing the plan.
``We haven't taken a position on it yet,'' Henry Richardson, president of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association, said Thursday at a monthly meeting of the group.
The innkeepers association is aware of opposition from a group of Laskin Road merchants to features in the study calling the for one-way pairing of traffic on Laskin Road and 30th Street and the removal of store-front parking on Laskin Road near the Oceanfront.
The Resort Area Advisory Commission endorsed the study two weeks ago with the proviso that the one-way pairing and parking recommendations be deleted from the study, which was drafted by the city-hired consulting firm of Langley and McDonald.
``I'm sure there'll be some more changes before it's sent on (to City Council),'' Richardson said following the meeting. ``We'll probably take a vote on it next month.''
Laskin Road retailers already have objected to the traffic circulation and parking provisions of the study, arguing that the changes would ``put them out of business.''
Hoteliers attending the Thursday session asked few questions about the study following a brief outline of its contents by Langley and McDonald representatives.
Rob Hudome, who coordinates resort improvement projects and activities for the city, said the provisions of the study, which call for upgrading Pacific Avenue from Rudee Inlet bridge to 42nd Street, are not included in the city's budget for 1996-97 but could be funded through existing appropriations for municipal sewer and water installation, road construction and other tourism related projects.
In addition, the city has reached an agreement with Virginia Power to underwrite some of the cost of burying overhead utility lines along Pacific Avenue, said Bill Cashman, a principal in Langley and McDonald.
The estimated cost of the project is $50 million to $68 million, Cashman told innkeepers.
Tentative plans call for construction to start in the fall of 1997 and end in the spring of 2004.
Work would start in a five-to-seven block stretch at the South end of Pacific Avenue, near the two Rudee Inlet bridges, where road improvements already have been made.
The project is designed to dovetail with Atlantic Avenue improvements that are now nearing an end after 10 years, at a cost of $40 million.
Overhead utility lines would be buried, sidewalks would be paved and decorated with pastel pavers. New street lights, traffic signals, trees, shrubbery and beachy sculptures would adorn street corners and medians.
The differences in the two projects lie in the details. The new plan calls for discouraging traffic along Pacific Avenue, offering a regular loop trolley service along the Oceanfront, and offering alternative routes to the beach for incoming motorists. by CNB