DATE: Friday, September 12, 1997            TAG: 9709120569

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   61 lines

MAJOR BEACH ROADS WOULD FEEL WEIGHT OF OCEANA'S EXPANSION

Forget about the sky traffic.

On terra firma, getting the pilots and other personnel to Oceana Naval Air Station will require several major road improvements if the Navy moves 180 more F/A-18s to Virginia Beach.

Traffic now backs up during rush hours around the base, which lies two miles west of the Oceanfront. City officials, however, say they already have plans and money set aside to provide relief.

``The roads in that area are far better than they were 10 years ago, and we are doing more,'' said E. Dean Block, who as the city budget director oversees the Capital Improvement Program, a six-year budget that includes major road projects.

If 5,600 new civilian and military personnel are added to the base, city officials said, the total will be only slightly higher than it was 10 years ago, before a large cut in Oceana staffing occurred.

A draft of the long-awaited environmental assessment of the move, released Wednesday, said that the additional personnel would affect traffic the most around the base's three entrances, especially on Oceana Boulevard between Bells and Princess Anne roads.

John W. Herzke, a city engineer with the Department of Public Works, said plans are under way to widen Oceana Boulevard from two to four lanes from just south of Virginia Beach Boulevard to Oceana's main gate.

Herzke said the city should be advertising for construction on Oceana Boulevard this fall. The widening should take about a year to complete.

Other troublesome roads identified by the Navy include:

First Colonial Road between Virginia Beach Boulevard and Route 44.

Oceana Boulevard between Virginia Beach Boulevard and Bells Road.First Colonial Road and Oceana Boulevard.

London Bridge Road between Swamp Road and Shipps Corner Road.

Herzke said the city also has plans for some of these roads before the major influx of base personnel occurs.

Construction on First Colonial Road from Virginia Beach Boulevard to Oceana Boulevard would begin next April, he said.

And construction is nearly complete on two-lane London Bridge Road, which is being widened to a four-lane divided highway from Shipps Corner Road south to Dam Neck Road.

The intersection of Swamp Road and London Bridge Road will be realigned and an additional left turn lane from Dam Neck Road to London Bridge Road will be constructed near the base's back gate.

The city also has plans to widen London Bridge Road from Shipps Corner Road to Great Neck Road, the first phase of which would start in 1998, the second in 1999.

Block and Herzke said the Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt, which is planned to be built in 2001, also would help alleviate traffic tie-ups. The proposed link would connect Route 44 near Birdneck Road with Interstate 64 in the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake.

``It's a little early for me to say, (but) this may be sufficient,'' said Herzke. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

AFFECTED ROADS

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] KEYWORDS: OCEANA EXPANSION: WHAT IT WOULD MEAN

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