DATE: Friday, September 19, 1997            TAG: 9709190817

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   51 lines

CHESAPEAKE EXPRESSWAY IS A GO BUT A CHANGE MAY DELAY PLAN TO SMOOTH PATH TO OUTER BANKS

Plans to buy land and begin building the long-awaited Chesapeake Expressway got the green light Thursday with the unanimous approval of the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

However, the state board was warned that there could be delays in opening the toll road because the Chesapeake City Council last week requested last minute changes in its design.

Board members were told by Secretary of Transportation Robert E. Martinez that if a single citizen asks for a public hearing on the proposed changes, the state will have to hold a public hearing.

And if the hearing results in any further changes to the road's design or location, the matter must return to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for approval.

State transportation officials predicted that making last week's last-minute changes to the $125 million road's final design could result in delays ranging from six to nine months.

The Chesapeake Expressway is considered Chesapeake's most important road project. It is intended to take Outer Banks traffic off the two-lane sections of Battlefield Boulevard by building a parallel highway.

Residents in the Hickory section of Chesapeake are often stranded in their own homes by the constant traffic along Battlefield Boulevard. Traffic has gotten so congested that people have had to be airlifted away from their homes during medical emergencies.

The expressway is also expected to open up a wide swath of southern Chesapeake to commercial and residential development.

The Council last week approved the road's final design with two major changes added in the final hours before the vote. All the changes were requested by local residents and Vice Mayor John W. Butt.

The Battlefield Boulevard interchange was made smaller and the location of the highway was altered near the Ballahack Road interchange to put it closer to Va. Route 168 than originally planned.

The changes at Ballahack Road might prompt a new public hearing, along with new environmental tests, new plans and new rights of way acquisition.

The purchase of the road's right of way is expected to begin this fall and construction is scheduled to begin next spring. The Chesapeake Expressway is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2000. The road will be built with public and private funds, and operated by a private company that will use the toll fees to pay off the construction debt. MEMO: Staff writer Debbie Messina contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Map

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