DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 1997               TAG: 9703180265

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   60 lines

MOVEMENT ON FIXING ROUTE 17 SEEMS ABOUT TO START

Whether it's a commute to work or a Sunday afternoon drive in the country, motorists using U.S. Route 17 to get from Virginia to North Carolina can expect to have company on the road. Lots of company.

Between 7,800 and 8,200 vehicles a day travel between the states along the route, a tree-lined two-lane road that abuts the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. In the next couple of decades, the number is projected to grow by 50 percent.

But planners, who have been considering widening the road since 1965, may finally move ahead. The Virginia Department of Transportation has scheduled its first public hearing Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Cedar Road Elementary School on a set of alternatives that have been developed to ease congestion.

``We'd like to hear from the public so we can make the most appropriate choice,'' said Denis Gribok, an engineer for VDOT.

There were 167 traffic accidents on the road between 1991 and 1995, Gribok said. The road is over capacity, and if residents and city officials can agree on a plan and funding the project could be completed in the next couple of years.

Construction and land purchase costs are expected to range from $18.9 million to $39.3 million, with design money - already earmarked by the city from a state-funded pot - at about $1 million.

Still, it remains unclear how a host of issues will be handled.

First, some landowners in the western, rural part of Chesapeake are expected to lose property for the road improvement, which will span from the Carolina border north to Dominion Boulevard.

Also, with the swamp just to the west of the road, other issues will have to be considered. A visitors' center and pedestrian access to hiking and biking trails envisioned by Chesapeake and swamp officials could become more difficult to place. Currently, one boat ramp provides the only access from the Chesapeake side of the swamp.

Dismal Swamp black bears, whose population has been steadily improving in recent years after a spell in decline, could be threatened by the road. A handful each year are involved in traffic accidents.

Tundra swans and snow geese that make fields to the east of Route 17 their winter resting space could be disturbed.

And, further, depending on the plan chosen, some wetlands and the city's newest park along the east side of Route 17 could be affected.

``We're looking at this,'' said Vicky Stewart, a member of the Great Dismal Swamp Coalition, an environmental support group for the refuge. ``We really want to hear what they (road planners) have to say.''

The five plans all call for the road expansion to run east of the existing road, Gribok said. One calls for the new road to run parallel to the old one for the entire distance, while others call for some building to run parallel for a short distance and then break farther east. One proposes an alignment with West Road, which runs parallel to Route 17 to the east.

Another option is to do nothing, Gribok said.

``For all the alternatives, we'll look at socioeconomic impacts, land development as far as residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural,'' he said. ``We'll present all the alternatives at the hearing and talk with people one-on-one to take comments and answer questions. People can also take information and write in comments later if they wish.'' KEYWORDS: U.S. ROUTE 17

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