THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996              TAG: 9608270267
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   55 lines

COMMITTEE WANTS MORE DATA ON ROUTE 460 OPTION LOW COST OVERRIDES CONSULTANT'S VIEW THAT PLAN WOULDN'T EASE BRIDGE-TUNNEL TRAFFIC.

Hampton Roads leaders could not agree on the best ways to ease congestion at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, but they said improving Virginia Route 460 would be vital to the region's economic viability.

At a meeting Monday of the Hampton Roads Crossing Study Coordinating Committee, city representatives were reluctant to eliminate widening Route 460 from a consultant's 12 options. Instead, they agreed to study it further.

``It's the only option for the Southside to get to the rest of the world and the rest of the world to get to us,'' said Arthur L. Collins, executive director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.

Plus its cost, $500 million, was more palatable to many committee members than the $1.3 billion to $3.3 billion estimated for a third bridge-tunnel.

The consultant, Philip A. Shucet, vice president of Michael Baker Jr. Inc., told the group that while it may be worthwhile, improving Route 460 would not relieve bridge-tunnel traffic. Studies show that only 20 percent of Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel users are from outside the region and would consider using an expanded Route 460, from Petersburg to Suffolk.

Virginia Department of Transportation officials said they would explore including the Route 460 corridor in another transportation study.

``This is not a regional planning study - this is a Hampton Roads Crossing Study,'' said Gerald W. Sears, principal transportation engineer for VDOT and a committee member. ``We can't take this study and roll it up to take care of other needs.''

Still, the region's leaders requested more information on the Route 460 option before thinking about scratching it off the list.

The $6 million Hampton Roads Crossing Study has offered 12 options for moving a growing number of motorists between South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula.

Eleven of the 12 options involve building a third bridge-tunnel across the Hampton Roads harbor. The bridge-tunnel proposals include an innovative ``multi-modal'' lane designated for car pools, express buses or light rail.

The alternatives include:

A span that would run east of the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and curve around Craney Island in Portsmouth and end near Norfolk International Terminals and Terminal Boulevard in Norfolk, with variations that include a spur to Craney Island.

A new bridge-tunnel along the same alignment as the Monitor-Merrimac, but with an interchange on the bridge to divert motorists east toward Portsmouth and Norfolk.

A new bridge and tunnel parallel to the Monitor-Merrimac.

A new bridge and tunnel parallel to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

Transportation officials hope to select a route next summer, based on costs, funding, environmental impacts, public sentiment and how effectively it reduces congestion.

KEYWORDS: TRANSPORTATION ROAD CONSTRUCTION by CNB