DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709100550

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   77 lines

CHESAPEAKE ALTERS EXPRESSWAY PLAN THE STATE HAS PREDICTED CHANGES WOULD ADD DELAYS AND COST, BUT THE CITY SAYS THE CONSTRUCTION LIKELY WON'T BE AFFECTED.

Bowing to pressure from council members and the community, the city staff will modify the design of the proposed Chesapeake Expressway, a move that could cause delays and increase the cost of Chesapeake's most important road project.

State officials have said that any changes could add six months to the construction schedule.

City Engineer D. Ray Stout said it was too early to tell the final impact, but said the changes could result in a slight delay in the road's final approval but not in construction.

The Chesapeake Expressway is considered Chesapeake's most important road project. It is intended to take Outer Banks-bound traffic off two-lane sections of Battlefield Boulevard South.

That road is a summertime nightmare, with vacation drivers snarling the highway and making it nearly impossible for Hickory residents to use or cross the highway.

It is also a lifeline for the future of Chesapeake. The road will likely be needed to serve a crush of new residential and commercial development in the southern part of the city.

The cost of the $125 million road could increase as a result of the design changes, state officials have said. But Stout said an increase along one section of the road will likely be offset by savings in other sections.

``There's no significant cost increase with these modifications,'' Stout said. ``There'll be savings in right-of-way costs and additional costs at the Ballahack Road interchange, but we think the whole thing nets out to no significant increase.''

Leo H. Rutledge Jr., urban programs engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, has said the changes could add up to six months to the project's approval.

Because of the changes proposed at Ballahack Road, a new public hearing may have to be held, new environmental tests conducted, new plans developed and new rights of way acquired.

``As long as you can live with the delay for the hearings, it will work with the design,'' public works Director John O'Connor told the council.

Two significant changes will be made to the road's design.

The first involves downsizing an interchange around Battlefield Boulevard, also known as Virginia Route 168.

Engineers agreed to shrink the size of the interchange and eliminate plans for an entrance and exit loop.

The other change involves the Ballahack Road interchange on the south side of the Northwest River. In that area, the road will run much closer to Route 168 than originally planned.

The state has said that this change could add six to nine months for impact determination, permitting, design and construction.

The state also predicted that project costs will increase in areas such as demolition, right of way damages and maintenance of traffic during construction.

The changes were requested by local homeowners and businesses. The Ballahack Road modification will move the road closer to some existing businesses, which hope to benefit from tourist traffic. Changes at the Battlefield Boulevard interchange will lessen the impact on local homeowners.

Vice Mayor John W. Butt, in cooperation with residents in the area, pushed for both changes in the road's plans.

Chesapeake has fought for years to have the state put this highway on a fast track, finally settling for a toll road to rush the job.

It will be the first in Virginia to be built using the law that allows tax-exempt bonds to be issued by private builders to construct a public road.

The tolls will help pay off the road's cost and provide a profit to a private consortium of builders. Under the proposed agreement, which has yet to be formalized, the city has no financial risk in the project.

The council unanimously agreed to the design changes with little debate.

``I'm not entirely pleased with this, but at this point I think it's the best we can do,'' said Councilman Dalton S. Edge.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board is scheduled to approve the road's final design on Sept. 18. Buying of the road's right of way is expected to begin this fall, and construction is currently scheduled to start next spring. The road is expected to be complete by the summer of 2000.

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