THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608090475
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 89 lines
Brace yourself. If you thought congestion was bad in the lower end of the city, it's going to get worse before it gets better.
Norfolk has the busiest highway construction schedule in the southeastern part of the state for the rest of the century. Nearly every major road into the city will be torn up in the next three to four years.
But when it's done, cruising around Norfolk should be a breeze.
To minimize the impact on motorists and businesses, a public-private committee has been formed to handle communications and try to reduce traffic on the affected roads. It is made up of business and community leaders, as well as highway and city officials.
The Transportation Information Partners' goal is to prevent the city from getting a reputation of being gridlocked, which is bad for business and for residents' quality of life.
TIP is concentrating on these areas: making downtown road improvements for Tidewater Community College and the MacArthur Center, reconfiguring intersections on St. Paul's Boulevard, widening Campostella and Indian River roads, widening Church Street, widening North Military Highway around Military Circle, and constructing high occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 264.
The Virginia Department of Transportation's share of these projects is $245 million. Norfolk is paying millions, too, but those figures were not available.
``Here in the lower quadrant of the city, there are so many projects that are so large and in such a tight geographic area, we knew it would create problems,'' said Kathy Bulman, Norfolk spokeswoman. ``So we started thinking about them in a more coordinated way.''
The group has created a symbol, ``Tip'' the gopher, that will accompany information the group puts out.
Soon the face of the grinning gopher wearing a hard hat will adorn highway signs and advertisements.
TIP hopes to keep motorists up to date on delays primarily by using signs and advertising and working with businesses and retailers. . Using alternate routes, and not driving during peak hours, may be suggested.
``We know that people deal better with the pain of construction if they know what's happening ahead of time and have some sense of what to anticipate,'' said Cathy Coleman, executive director of the Downtown Norfolk Council and a TIP committee member.
``We don't want to drive people out of the area during construction,'' said Rick Polley, manager of Military Circle Mall. ``Hopefully, we'll give them choices. We'll keep abreast of things and provide alternatives for them.''
The committee is also looking for ways to ease congestion by reducing traffic.
``Communications isn't enough,'' VDOT spokesman William J. ``Bill'' Cannell said.
``We can't just tell people traffic will be bad and ask for their patience. We have to do something to alleviate the problems.''
The aim is to reduce traffic, not people.
TIP is working with Tidewater Regional Transit and TRT's TRAFFIX program to encourage more carpooling and vanpooling and to possibly establish a park-and-ride system and express bus service between Military Circle and downtown.
The committee is also considering establishing shuttle systems downtown and at Military Circle that would allow motorists to park once, then ride a shuttle or trolley from location to location within those areas.
``We realize this may mean a little bit of a lifestyle change for some people,'' said Carrie L. Donley, a commuter transportation coordinator for Tidewater Regional Transit and a member of the TIP committee.
``But with as much that's going on, it's unavoidable.
``We're going to try to make it as convenient as possible.''
The TIP committee was formed based on concerns from the city's economic development office.
``We wanted to make sure businesses did not sit back and cry like they're victims,'' Bulman said.
``We wanted to allow them to be part of the solution, to be partners.''
TIP's programs will be financed with contributions from the participating businesses and agencies, so far totaling about $25,000. The programs will be rolled out shortly as the bulk of construction is about to begin.
``It may not be a perfect process,'' Bulman said, ``but at least we didn't let it just happen to us.'' ILLUSTRATION: Chart
Road construction ahead: nearly every major road into Norfolk will
be torn up in tne next few years as part of the region's busiest
construction schedule. These are estimated timelines for the biggest
projects.
Drawing
The symbol of Tip the gopher will help get the word out about
highway delays.
KEYWORDS: ROAD CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC CONGESTION by CNB