THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996 TAG: 9602270291
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
It was a solution that was sure to make almost no one happy.
Neighborhoods had been pitted against one another over a causeway between Waterview and Westhaven. Many Waterview residents want the causeway closed, other neighbors want the easy access the causeway provides.
There was no way to make both sides happy. But the proposed solution - making the causeway a one-way street - seemed to leave both sides angry. ``This solution is like King Solomon cutting the baby in half,'' said Councilman Cameron C. Pitts said. ``You're saying just close half the causeway.''
During a City Council work session on Monday, nearly 150 people showed up for the issue, and most grumbled over the proposal to make the causeway one-way going from Westhaven into Waterview. The plan would also call for adding a pair of four-way stop signs along Grayson Street to slow traffic.
When Pitts asked those in the audience in favor of the plan to raise their hands, not a hand went up.
Pitts said he preferred lowering the speed limits through the neighborhood from 25 to 15 mph.
City Manager Ronald W. Massie said that the plan was designed to do two things - reduce the amount of traffic in the neighborhood and to slow drivers down.
Massie said city staff will visit various civic leagues to explain the proposal and to get feedback.
The city has placed barricades at several neighborhood entrances along High Street. Those barricades have simply diverted traffic onto different streets, but they have done little to prevent people from using the causeway, said the city's traffic engineer R.D. ``Red'' McDaniel. He added that about 30 percent of the traffic has been going around the neighborhood since the barricades were erected.
The council would be required to take a formal vote if it decides to make the causeway a one-way street. The council is set to consider that option at its March 12 meeting.
Citizens who want more information can call the city traffic engineer at 393-8594 or they can ask to speak to the council at its March 12 meeting by contacting the clerk, 393-8639, or by signing up before the meeting in the chambers. by CNB