THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604260219
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
City Councilwoman Barbara M. Henley wants city engineers to look at upgrading narrow and winding Sandbridge Road before a municipal budget is adopted May 14.
Right now the road isn't even included in the list of projects to be undertaken or even considered in an updated, six-year capital improvement plan.
Her request was duly noted Thursday during a council budget workshop by E. Dean Block, director of management services for the city.
Block said some earlier projects had to be deleted and others delayed to make room for the revived Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt - previously dubbed the Southeastern Expressway. It will cost an estimated $262 million.
The reason, he said, is that the Commonwealth Transportation Board this year authorized funding for the project, which had been relegated to the bone yard by a different City Council several years ago.
The city's share of the 11.5-mile highway, which will stretch from the Chesapeake city line at I-64 to the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway, will be $51.5 million.
``It bothers me that six CIP (capital improvement projects) projects were deleted,'' Henley said. ``Laskin Road (phase one, two and three), Holland Road and Centerville Turnpike, but I didn't see any new projects. Will all the money go to the Southeastern Parkway?''
No, said Block. Some projects are intact and should start in one to three years. These include phase two of London Bridge Road, Shore Drive intersections, International Parkway, London Bridge Road extended, phase two of Birdneck Road, Kempsville Road and phase 4-B of Independence Boulevard, among others.
City road construction funding is swayed by annual Virginia Department of Transportation spending, he said. When the state decided to pay for a big chunk of the Southeastern Parkway, the plan was bumped to the top of the city's priority list.
Funds could be taken from the remaining phases of the Ferrell Parkway project to pay for a portion of Sandbridge Road improvements, Henley insisted. The reason for the hurry? A proposed 150-acre subdivision development at one end of the 5 1/2-mile road and an opportunity to swap some land with suddenly amenable Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge management would make the project ripe for immediate action, she explained.
Sandbridge Road snakes south and east from Princess Anne Road through farm and marsh land to highly populated Sandbridge beach. It is narrow, low, prone to flooding and is in dire need of attention, Henley said.
Before any construction can begin, the city must conduct a feasibility study, which - under federal law - must include an environmental impact analysis of planned road improvements and possible alternative routes, said Block and Public Works Director Ralph Smith.
``Even if the improvements were for an existing road?'' Henley asked. ``Yes,'' Smith replied.
In the end, Henley and the rest of the council members at the budget session agreed to press for a Sandbridge Road study. They also agreed to seek a meeting with South Hampton Roads Congressional representatives to smooth the way for a land swap with the wildlife refuge. by CNB