THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412220133
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Road Warrior
SOURCE: The Road Warrior
LENGTH: Long : 130 lines
As is the tradition in this column, Road offers up yet another selection of year-end, transportation-themed songs. (Eat your heart out, Beethoven.)
To the tune of ``Winter Wonderland.''
All these years, they're still going.
Construction crews aren't slowing
On Indian River, they've yet to deliver
Working on a road foreverland.
At first we thought they'd complete it
Now we just want them to beat it.
The traffic gets jammed, the workers are damned
Building this road foreverland.
First they rearranged the on and off ramps
And installed a clover leaf right there and then.
Then they went and they shut down the turnpike
And built a road alongside CBN.
What comes next? We can't imagine.
We hope it comes before the year 2000,
And we live to the day, when the crews go away
After finishing this road foreverland.
To the tune of ``Little Drummer Boy.''
The tolls on 44 they'll dump, dump, dump, dump.
No more quarters will we pump, pump, pump, pump.
Or wait for hours on our rump, rump, rump, rump.
We'll zip across town now with nary a bump
The highway scene
Will be wiped clean
Of toll machines.
But our taxes will go up, up, up, up.
You can bet we'll pay more, yup, yup, yup, yup.
There's no such thing as a free lunch, lunch, lunch, lunch.
No matter how it goes we'll all feel the crunch.
That's just our luck.
Always get stuck
When they pass the buck.
SNARLS OF THE WEEK
The following people called Road's INFOLINE number with their complaints.
A note to all those concerned about the traffic signal at Pleasure House Road and Shore Drive:
It seems the Shore Drive corridor was recently struck by the CMAQ project. You know, the federal grant project that Road talks about incessantly. The Feds have given us money to retime about 130 traffic signals in some 20 corridors, or areas, like Princess Anne, etc.
An outside firm was hired to do traffic counts and then calculations for new, more efficient, signal timings in the hopes of boosting our quality of air.
Anyway, the project is what happened to the signal at Pleasure House and Shore Drive. The new timing was set to cater to the main street, Shore Drive, and didn't give enough time to folks heading out on Pleasure House. Engineers say they've gone out and fine-tuned the signal and the problem should be solved.
And for those who wrote in about the malfunctioning signal at the intersection of Kings Grant and Lynnhaven. Engineers were alerted to this problem a week before it was discussed here. It looks like there is a bad ``loop,'' the thing that monitors whether a car is in a particular lane at an intersection. It may take a while to replace the loop, so engineers have put the signal on ``automatic,'' which means it'll switch to the side streets automatically, rather than wait for someone to approach the signal.
Sean Ryan, Kempsville Lakes. I'm wondering what's the scoop on those towers that are going up on I-64 that look something like an observation tower? I have a hard time believing that they're going to be used for observing traffic.
RW: I have the feeling that I'm going to be answering this next question for at least a year - because that's probably how long it's going to take the Virginia Department of Transportation to erect all these crow's-nest observation towers. Which, Sean, is just what they are - observation towers. Cameras will be mounted on them to keep track of HOV traffic, including accidents, etc.
Andy Seamon, Columbus Station. Are they going to put up a traffic light up here by the Movies 12 after they finish construction? If we don't get something out here once they finish, it's going to be murder trying to get out of these condos and apartments.
RW: Andy, there are no plans for a traffic signal on Columbus Loop by the new movie complex. However, engineers are thinking about re-evaluating the area to see if there is a need for different traffic control measures out there - i.e. bigger stop signs, etc.
Jody Flavin, Ocean Lakes. I was just calling to inquire about the trees that were planted along the new section of Dam Neck Road between General Booth and Holland. When they planted them earlier this year they appeared to be mostly dead. Then someone came along and chopped them all off and now I see they've replanted new trees and I was just wondering are these going to live?
RW: This answer comes courtesy of Kathy Whitehurst, a landscape inspector supervisor with Landscape Services.
Apparently, the contractor was in charge of planting and taking care of the first set of trees and shrubbery. A good portion of the original nursery stock was damaged goods and then the other half wasn't planted at the proper time, nor were the plants watered correctly, etc., resulting in lots of dead stuff alongside the road. The contractor was responsible for paying to replace some 400 trees and shrubs, some of which were dead and some of which were damaged.
The trees you're seeing planted now are the replacements for the originals and were hand-picked by Whitehurst from a New Jersey nursery. These trees and shrubbery are expected to thrive much better than the first batch. Either way, they're insured for up to a year after delivery.
Michael, no address given. My first question has to do with the wheels that stick off the sides of cars, a little bit too big for the fenders. Is that legal in Virginia?
Second, regarding I-64 eastbound between the twin bridges and Indian River Road. They have redone all of the lanes except for one. Is there a plan to dig up the concrete and repave the one lane they haven't done?
RW: First, the folks with the State Police say the state of Virginia doesn't care if your wheels are slightly wider than your fender, as long as the vehicle doesn't exceed the width of a road lane.
As for the lane left on I-64, yes, it will be repaired next spring. And you're right, there's only one left to go. It sure is nice having all those lanes and that pristine stretch of highway open to drivers. MEMO: Tell the Road Warrior about your motoring problems. Get 'em off your
chest. Call on Infoline, at 640-5555. After a brief message, dial ROAD
(7623). When directed, press 1 to deliver your message, and 1 again to
sign off.
Or, write: The Road Warrior, Virginia Beach Beacon, 4565 Virginia
Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va. 23462.
Don't forget to include your name, address and neighborhood.
by CNB