THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120461
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 75 lines
It will be a bridge in the 21st century.
But the new five-lane overpass connecting drivers from north and south Battlefield Boulevard over the Intracoastal Waterway - due for completion in 2001 - cannot come soon enough to ease congestion at the current two-lane drawbridge.
The Great Bridge Locks Bridge carries more than double its capacity of 15,000 vehicles a day, according to estimates by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The state Department of Transportation built a bypass around several miles of the Battlefield business corridor in the 1980s and plans call for connecting it to Interstate 64 in the next two years, but for now the city can do little to alleviate traffic in Great Bridge.
But City Council members may look into changing the lift schedule of the bridge, which goes up every hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., to better accommodate highway traffic.
``The bridge is beyond its capacity and beyond its years; they've got to do something about that bridge,'' said Mac Knight, who owns Great Bridge Pharmacy on South Battlefield Boulevard.
``A lot of traffic goes through here, and it gets really backed up when the bridge is closed, making it hard to get in and out of here,'' he said. ``It should be a real boon to Great Bridge businesses once the new bridge goes in and you can actually get into our parking lots.''
The bridge has been replaced twice since the federal government purchased the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal in 1913. The existing bridge was completed in 1943, when the area was mostly rural.
Now Battlefield Boulevard supports a commercial corridor along the multi-lane highway, but traffic is reduced to two lanes at the bridge - which separates City Hall traffic from Chesapeake General Hospital traffic.
The new bridge - the first in the state to be operated hydraulically - will be five lanes, including a turning lane and bicycle paths. It's slated to go up east of the current bridge and will be owned and operated by the city. Building costs are expected to reach $23 million, with Chesapeake chipping in $3.3 million. Several businesses along a half-mile stretch of the road are likely to be condemned.
Congress authorized the project in 1995, public hearings have been held, and environmental and structural studies are done. But federal funding has not been approved - although President Clinton recommended the full cost be paid in his proposed budget for fiscal year 1998.
If the money is appropriated by Congress and the schedule remains on track, construction will begin in February 1999 and take two years, said James R. Creighton Jr., a civil engineer with the Army Corps and the project's manager.
``Traffic is pretty bad now,'' said Creighton, adding that the Corps has been studying the bridge's replacement since the 1970s. ``Everyone is slowing down to navigate the two-lane bridge. The new bridge is not going to alleviate the backup when the bridge is up, but traffic will move faster when it's down.''
Vice Mayor John W. Butt, who suggested studying the lift schedule, said reducing the bridge closures during rush hour could help in the short term.
``We're talking about real peak hours - like 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. - only opening the bridge for commercial traffic on an as-needed basis,'' said Butt, adding that the Dominion Boulevard and Cedar Road bridges have the same problem. ``We're trying to be on top of this.''
Although no formal request has been made, the Corps has discussed the idea with the U.S. Coast Guard, which regulates bridge openings, Corps officials said. However, there are considerations other than traffic. Bridge openings have to coordinate with lock openings in the canal, which runs from Norfolk to the St. Johns River in Florida.
Further, the Coast Guard and Corps of Engineers have as a primary mission the flow of commercial and recreational navigation, rather than road traffic, Creighton said. Commercial boaters would have to be consulted and emergency vessels would have to be considered. ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing
Artist's rendering of the proposed bridge over the Intracoastal
Waterway.
KEYWORDS: GREAT BRIDGE LOCKS BRIDGE REPLACEMENT