THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210999
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 42 lines
Truckers heading east on the Route 44 expressway Tuesday morning got a surprise when they were ushered into a new lane designated specifically for state police inspections.
It was the first time that officers have manned the new station, built where the toll plaza once stood, to spot-check tractor-trailers for weight, cargo, paperwork, mechanical condition and hazardous materials.
``They had a real good morning,'' said Tammy Van Dame, a state police spokeswoman who also said officers will operate the station on an ``occasional'' basis.
Officers of the state police's Motor Carrier Safety Team inspected 20 commercial tractor-trailers between 7 and 10 a.m. at the site.
Five of those vehicles were put ``out of service'' for infractions that ranged from paperwork to mechanical problems, Van Dame said.
The new station affords officers ``another option in checking heavy-duty vehicles,'' Van Dame said.
The inspection station was built in conjunction with the demolition of the Route 44 Toll Plaza in June 1994, when the expressway's toll was rescinded after nearly three decades.
``The state police came to us as we began the job asking to allow them to use that area'' for an inspection station, said Dennis Gribok, resident engineer for the Norfolk Residency of the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The inspection station was modeled after one near Richmond, Gribok said.
Where there were once 14 lanes at the toll plaza site, the roadway is now 10 lanes wide, with two of them designated east- and westbound shoulder lanes.
The inspection area is one lane to the right of the eastbound shoulder lane and separated from mainstream traffic by concrete barriers.
Trucks leaving the inspection area can merge into eastbound traffic using the shoulder lane, which is open to other motorists only between 3 and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Just past the inspection area, the shoulder lane turns into an exit only for Rosemont Road.
The $1.5 million toll booth removal project included the cost of a gate, signs and concrete barriers for the station, Gribok said. by CNB