THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503070071
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Underground contamination has been discovered at 17 sites along Church Street, possibly increasing costs of a long-proposed road-widening project.
However, there now is a firmer schedule for proceeding with the project, said John Keifer, Norfolk's director of public works.
First, the Virginia Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing in May, June or July. After that, the project must be formally approved by the City Council and the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
Environmental cleanup and property acquisition would begin after the approvals. Most of the pollution is believed to have leaked from old, underground petroleum storage tanks.
``We have allocated 2 1/2 years of property acquisition and environmental cleanup, and then we move into construction,'' Keifer told the Mayor's Committee on Church Street-Huntersville Development last week.
That means construction would begin in January 1998 and continue through December 1999, according to the schedule released by Keifer.
The project had been delayed several years because of incomplete state funding and the environmental requirement to search for underground pollution.
The city wants to turn Church Street into a wide, landscaped boulevard to create another north-south commuter route into downtown.
A portion, south of Goff Street, already has been done. Still to be completed is Church Street north of Goff Street to Granby Street, just south of the entrance to the city's zoo.
The project is expected to cost about $12 million, Keifer said. But that estimate includes only some costs for environmental cleanup, he said.
``What will be needed is to purchase those properties and clean them up, and that will be a three-way type of thing involving the Department of Transportation, the Department of Environmental Quality and the property owners,'' Keifer said.
He added: ``Until we know exactly what it is, it potentially could be more.'' by CNB