
DATE: Wednesday, November 26, 1997          TAG: 9711260486

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: PUBLIC LIFE

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   86 lines

SUFFOLK'S ROAD TO GROWTH COULD BE A COSTLY ONE THE CITY WILL HAVE TO RAISE AT LEAST $68.4 MILLION FOR ROADS EVEN IF IT CUTS ITS RATE OF EXPANSION TO JUST 600 NEW HOMES A YEAR, A CONSULTANT SAYS.

The city recently asked consultants to plot the results of two options for the future: cutting the existing 700-homes-a-year growth rate to just 600 - or allowing it to swell to 1,000 new homes annually.

In either scenario, Suffolk faces some daunting needs.

If the city manages to hold its growth to 600 new homes a year, eight of its key roadways will jammed beyond belief by the year 2018.

And that's the good news, according to a consultant's report.

Without growth controls, Suffolk could expand much faster and require even more roadwork.

For the past 14 months, as they developed a new comprehensive land use plan, city officials have tried to figure out how many new residents the city can support and what - if anything - can be done to limit their numbers.

New residents require additional schools, police and fire protection. As the consultant's report showed, they also travel on rural roads designed for very little traffic.

The council commissioned LDR, a consulting firm from Maryland, to quantify the impact of new development on roads.

Under the slow-growth scenario, of 600 new homes a year, the city will need $267.6 million of road improvements, according to the study. Most of the work will be the responsibility of the state, but Suffolk will have to pay at least $68.4 million for its share.

The consultants also studied the cost of roadwork if 1,000 new homes were built annually. Those road improvements would cost about $410 million, with the city paying an estimated $80 million.

Although the city does not have to make the decisions about road improvements for a few years, LDR suggested that officials and residents begin the process now.

``We need to look at the future tools needed to manage growth,'' said Bob Goumas, Suffolk's long-term planner. ``Transportation is a key part of a city's infrastructure. It's very important.''

Vice Mayor Charles F. Brown said the numbers give him a headache.

``I wonder what vehicle are we going to use to get to that point,'' Brown said after hearing the transportation results. ``What mechanism do we have?''

Planning Director Paul E. Fisher said that once the city determines roughly how many homes it wants, LDR will refine its studies to show exactly what Suffolk will need to manage that growth.

Fisher said the city hopes to pick a preferred plan within the next few weeks and then hold public sessions on the results early next year. Suffolk will hold a public hearing on the Comprehensive Land Plan after the sessions.

LDR estimated that under the low-growth scenario of 600 new homes a year, eight major roads - including some in neighboring Chesapeake and Portsmouth - would need extensive work:

Route 17 in northern Suffolk, now four lanes, would need to be widened to six.

The four-lane Interstate 664 would need expanding to six from Route 17 to the Chesapeake line.

Portsmouth Boulevard, located in Chesapeake and Suffolk but regularly used by Suffolk residents to travel in and out of the city, would also need to be six lanes.

Shoulders Hill Road, now two lanes, definitely would need to be four lanes in its southern half and likely would need to be widened along its northern section.

U.S. Route 13 would have to be expanded to four lanes from downtown Suffolk to the state line.

Bennetts Pasture Road, in northern Suffolk, would have to be widened from two lanes to four.

The proposed Southeast Bypass, which would link U.S. Route 58 and U.S. Route 460 with U.S. Route 13 and Virginia Route 32, would need to be constructed. Planners have not yet settled on a site for this road.

U.S. Route 460 would need improvements along a yet-to-be-determined portion.

For more information or to review the study's findings, contact the Planning Department at 925-6485. ILLUSTRATION: Map

SUFFOLK ROADS NEEDING UPGRADES

Photo

JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot

Cars on Shoulders Hill Road in Suffolk...

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