THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270464
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Saying the Southeastern Expressway is now its top road-building priority, the City Council decided Tuesday to postpone three other street projects.
In a 7-4 vote, the council indefinitely delayed improvements to Holland and Laskin roads and scaled back plans for Oceana Boulevard. Those decisions mark the first efforts to fund the highway that would link Route 44 in the Beach to Interstate 64 in Chesapeake.
The decision continues life for the road, but does not mean it will be built. Even council supporters wanted reassurances Tuesday that they could change their minds if an ongoing state study shows problems or the federal government denies permits.
The issue spurred one of the most emotional discussions on the council in more than a year.
Supporters said the 21-mile road would help the city grow and prosper, attracting businesses and jobs. Without it, they said, the state's largest city would be stuck on a cul-de-sac at the end of the Route 44.
Opponents worried about the environmental impact of a highway that spans miles of wetlands, the sprawl it could bring to the city's undeveloped southern half and the $260 million price for the Beach's portion.
In response, the council voted in December to rename the road the Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt and to design it more like the Colonial Parkway in the Williamsburg area than an interstate. The council then unanimously agreed to ask the state to select a route for the parkway and complete environmental studies.
Council member Barbara M. Henley said she thought her December vote ensured that the right of way for the parkway would be preserved and that owners of land not along the chosen path could breathe a sigh of relief.
She did not expect the parkway to become the city's top road-building priority, she said, and she did not think the council would move forward with it this fast.
``I'm greatly concerned about this process,'' Henley said. ``I don't think the folks on Holland Road know, I don't think the folks on Laskin Road know, and I don't think the people of Virginia Beach know we're talking about this tonight.''
Henley was joined in her objections by Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and councilmembers Nancy K. Parker and Robert K. Dean, who all voted against the spending plan.
City Manager James K. Spore said Tuesday that to have the parkway completed by 2010, plans for funding would have to start now. The council had to decide about the three smaller road projects, Spore said, because the state needs to know how the city hopes to spend state road dollars for the next six years.
The council will try to encourage the Chesapeake City Council to withdraw its objections to the road. The Chesapeake council has said it is not a top priority.
The new funding plan calls for the Beach to defer widening Holland Road south of Dam Neck Road, and put off removing the feeders along Laskin Road from London Bridge Road to the Oceanfront. The northern and southern ends of Oceana Boulevard would still be improved and the road widened somewhat.
The city will also have to dedicate up to 18 percent of its borrowing power to the road over the next dozen years, Management Services Director E. Dean Block told the council Tuesday. The parkway would not require a tax increase and would not have tolls, Block said. ILLUSTRATION: VP Map
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL by CNB