DATE: Sunday, August 17, 1997               TAG: 9708170041

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK - BENNETTS PASTURE.       LENGTH:   89 lines

CROP OF NEW HOMES STRETCHES ROAD LIMITS SUFFOLK'S LEADERS FORM A MASTER PLAN IN AN EFFORT TO ADAPT TO GROWTH.

It sounds like a place where horses roam bright green fields, farm crops thrive and houses are few and far between.

But names can be deceiving.

On Bennetts Pasture Road, homes are the crop on former farmland that families once held in sacred trust. Only one major farm remains, and it's for sale.

``There used to be farms all around, and there was even an old barn with two horses that used to hang their heads over the fence next to the entrance to our subdivision,'' said Milly S. Bost, a 26-year resident of the area. ``When we moved here from California, we felt like we were going back in history.''

Such links to yesteryear are vanishing, city officials and residents say, and roads like Bennetts Pasture are presenting special challenges to Suffolk.

Once the agrarian crib of Hampton Roads, the city is quickly moving up to the ranks of development hotbeds like Chesapeake.

Many Suffolk roads weren't built to handle the influx. Road improvements are expensive, and there's the matter of keeping rural character while adding to the suburban mix.

Bennetts Pasture Road, which takes about 10 minutes to travel, runs from Nansemond Parkway to Bridge Road, U.S. Route 17. The parkway leads to Chesapeake Square Mall; and from Bridge Road, drivers can travel to other South Hampton Roads or Peninsula cities.

``The most effective tools a city has to control development are its utility extension policies and its rezoning process,'' Planning Director Paul E. Fisher said.

Along Bennetts Pasture Road and other streets in the northeast end of the city, much of the land was rezoned from agricultural to residential uses years ago, and water and sewer generally are available.

Years ago, when past city councils and planning commissions approved some 14,000 homes - many still on the books - little thought seemed to go into city roads.

Because so many subdivisions sprouted on former farmland, many are served by narrow, two-lane roads. Speed limits vary widely.

Take Bennetts Pasture, for example.

Some 20 years ago, driving along the road was easy, Bost said.

But today, about half a dozen new subdivisions have popped up - among them Warrington, Brittany Farms, Holiday Point Estates and Driver Station.

Bost said entering and leaving her subdivision has become increasingly difficult.

From Nansemond Parkway to King's Highway, the speed limit on two-lane Bennetts Pasture Road is 45 mph. At Kings Highway, motorists encounter a flashing red light.

From that point, the speed limit starts at 55 mph, then decreases to 45 mph.

Before entering Bridge Road, there is a winding stretch of roadway with a 25 mph limit. On 17, it's up to 55 mph.

Fisher said planners are developing a master thoroughfare plan that would identify corridors in need of improvement.

Some roads may simply need widened shoulders, and others may need extra lanes, he said.

Dwight Farmer, the director of transportation for Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, conducted a study two years ago of roads in the northeast end of Suffolk.

He forecasted that traffic on Bennetts Pasture, from Kings Highway to Bridge Road, would increase by 30 percent - from 6,602 vehicles to 8,595 - by the year 2000.

The study recommends turn lanes at major intersections along Bennetts Pasture as well as a stoplight at Kings Highway and Bennetts Pasture Road.

The light would stop traffic on Kings Highway, since most drivers travel Bennetts Pasture.

The city's thoroughfare plan will be part of its new comprehensive land plan, which is being revised. The land plan is re-examined every five years.

The city, which held a series of public sessions late last year to hear residents' views about growth, will hold more meetings in the fall so residents can give opinions on two different scenarios for managing growth.

Before long, Fisher said, the city will have hundreds of Bennetts Pasture Roads, many overfilled with houses, children, stores and cars.

And the farms with white fences and endless acres of soybeans and cotton - places like the Bennetts Pasture of yesteryear - will be even rarer. ILLUSTRATION: Map

JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot

Traffic moves along Bennetts Pasture Road in Suffolk. Development

is forcing Suffolk to widen roads, such as Sleepy Hole Road, as

development and traffic increase. Bennetts Pasture Road is on that

list for the future.

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