THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190354
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 81 lines
The controversial Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt came one step closer to reality Wednesday when a regional board approved a planning study for the 20-mile road linking Interstate 464 in Chesapeake to Route 44 in Virginia Beach.
Even with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission's endorsement of the Major Investment Study, there are many more hurdles before the $381 million corridor can be built.
The most formidable include the Chesapeake City Council, which has consistently opposed the project, and federal environmental agencies, which have criticized preliminary engineering documents.
Consultant Chris Lloyd of Michael Baker Jr. Inc., which prepared the study, told the regional planning board that the proposed road is a response to employment and population growth in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
``There is a lack of an east-west transportation linkage,'' between the state's most populous city, Virginia Beach, and the state's fastest-growing city, Chesapeake, Lloyd said.
Since 1988, the two cities' growth rates have been almost four times as great as the national average. Even within Hampton Roads, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach are growing more than twice as fast as their neighboring cities.
At the same time, existing roads and highways are at or approaching capacity, according to the study. For the past 10 years, roads have been widened and carpool lanes have been added.
``However, despite ongoing efforts by the local municipalities, these projects have not successfully kept pace with this growth,'' the report reads.
The study recommends that the Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt be built with four lanes, with a provision for two carpool lanes to be built in the median when traffic levels justify them.
The cost is $381 million for the four lanes. The high occupancy vehicle lanes would cost an additional $118 million.
Traffic projections indicate that the new road would be used by 42,000 to 77,000 vehicles per day by the year 2015.
Twice in two years, the Chesapeake City Council has opposed the Southeastern Parkway. Despite assurances from state transportation officials that the proposed road would not pass through Chesapeake's developed Greenbrier section, council members said they wanted to take a strong stand against the road.
The latest vote, in April, was intended as a message to the state that the city first wants improvements to congested Route 168, the main artery to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Steadfastly behind the project is the Virginia Beach City Council, which made the Southeastern Parkway one of its top priorities and included funding for the project in its capital budget.
The city spearheaded the drive to rename and re-focus the project from Southeastern Expressway to the Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt, which will be designed more like the Colonial Parkway in Williamsburg than an interstate highway. Virginia Beach sent the matter to the state's Commonwealth Transportation Board, which in February approved Virginia Beach's preferred alignment despite Chesapeake's objections.
The transportation board selected the southernmost route, which would run south of Stumpy Lake between Indian River Road and Butts Station Road.
From Chesapeake, it would begin at Interstate 464 near Great Bridge. It crosses Indian River Road and Princess Anne Road into the Lake Ridge/Dam Neck area. The route then runs along the eastern side of Oceana Naval Air Base to Route 44.
About 177 families would lose their homes if that route is chosen, most of them in the Atlantic Park section of Virginia Beach.
The state is working on an environmental analysis of the proposed route, expected to be complete next spring.
A draft environmental report was criticized by federal environmental regulators. The final analysis is addressing those concerns with some design refinements and slight alternations to the alignment.
Assuming the project is approved and funded, it would take about four years to design the roadway and buy the necessary rights of way, then three to four more years to build it. ILLUSTRATION: Map\The Virginian-Pilot
Area Shown: Proposed Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt
KEYWORDS: SOUTHEASTERN PARKWAY by CNB