THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503080535
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
The state has come up with a way to fund the Pinners Point connector, but so far the City Council isn't buying the plan.
The $113 million connector is still years away, unless the city or state can come up with an additional $53 million to fund the project. City officials want the project done to alleviate heavy traffic in the Port Norfolk neighborhood.
To pay for the connector, state transportation officials recommend including a $1 toll on the new road, and using a chunk of Norfolk and Portsmouth's state road funds which are designated for city thoroughfares.
But several council members complained that the city already put some of its designated road funds into building the Western Freeway, which makes it easy for folks to bypass Portsmouth and may be taking business from the city.
Councilman P. Ward Robinett also questioned the state's toll figures. The state predicts a $1 toll will raise $17 million over 25 years. Robinett said the toll would actually raise $17 million a year if 68,000 cars use the road going to and from work.
The connector is a 3,500-foot stretch of roadway that will link the West Norfolk Bridge with the Midtown Tunnel and the Martin Luther King Freeway. State officials predict that the connection would take about 68,000 cars annually out of the Port Norfolk neighborhood, which is currently the only route from the Midtown tunnel to the Western Freeway.
The city plans to ask an official from the state department of transportation to attend its council meeting later this month to explain the funding options. by CNB