THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090435
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
A commuter railway linking downtown Norfolk and the Virginia Beach Oceanfront could be a reality by 2003 if the regional transportation board gets its way.
The Tidewater Transportation District Commission on Wednesday unanimously endorsed building a $376 million light rail system as the most cost-effective way to ease congestion in the Interstate 264 and Route 44 corridor.
The action is the first step in a long process of getting approval and funding for the controversial rail system. Opposition killed the project when it was first proposed in 1988.
``We have to do something,'' John W. Butt, commission chairman and a Chesapeake City councilman, said following the meeting. ``And this is the best alternative we have, based on information from our consultant.''
The commission chose light rail over three other alternatives recommended in a $1 million study: expanding bus service; enhancing the system of HOV lanes and park-and-ride-lots; and doing nothing.
Bleak traffic forecasts compelled the transportation board to choose the most aggressive option. Traffic volume along the popular highway is expected to increase 87 percent by 2015. Speeds might average 8 mph. Movement between the two cities would be crippled.
``We're going to have trouble with economic development, with attracting business and industry if we don't do something,'' Butt said.
Breaking from its traditional format, the commission allowed a citizen to speak at the meeting before the vote. Clyde Benton, representing NorTraM, a group of civic leagues from the west side concerned about transportation issues, cautioned the board about moving too swiftly.
``The emphasis has been so much on light rail that we've bypassed really looking into the other alternatives,'' Benton said.
The commission voted without discussion.
Transportation officials expect it will take about four years to design and arrange funding for the project. More immediately, though, they hope to gain endorsements from the cities and the local Metropolitan Planning Organization, part of the Southeastern Planning District Commission, by mid-July.
If the MPO or the cities object, the project is dead. Local planners must approve the project to secure federal funding. Virginia Beach's opposition killed the project when it first was proposed almost a decade ago.
While the financing has not yet been worked out, the project will likely be funded by a combination of federal, state and local funding. The Federal Transit Administration provides about 35 percent of funding for new light rail projects.
Another source could be a special tax to support light rail. Transportation officials plan to lobby the General Assembly for a designated revenue source, modeled after a program in Northern Virginia where a two-cent surcharge is levied on gasoline sales to support the Metro system.
According to Dennis Probst, lead consultant for the federally funded study, the line would be the third- or fourth-least expensive rail project completed in the country in the past 15 years.
That's because it would run on the existing Norfolk Southern rail line, with proposed stops at Plume Street, the Federal Building, Harbor Park, Norfolk State University, Riverside, Newtown Road, Pembroke, Princess Anne Plaza, Lynnhaven Road, Great Neck Road, First Colonial Road, Birdneck Road and the Pavilion.
The study estimates 13,000 to 15,500 people would ride the trains daily.
Eventually, the rail line could stretch to Norfolk Naval Base and across the water to Williamsburg. Fourteen of the region's 20 major employment centers would be within walking distance of a line from the resort to downtown Norfolk, and up Hampton Boulevard to the Naval Base, Probst said.
Two more options for alleviating traffic were not considered because the costs were prohibitive. Widening the existing highway was not an option because the land beside it is completely built up. And double-decking would cost about $2 billion.
A challenge will exist in convincing local residents who are not accustomed to mass transit to give up the convenience of their cars to ride the light rail, officials said.
``The transit system has to be attractive enough that people get out of their cars and ride,'' said Probst, vice president of BRW Inc., a transportation consulting firm in Minneapolis, Minn.
He said that by 2015, a trip into Norfolk on the light rail would be quicker than driving in a car.
``You could either relax on your trip to work reading the newspaper on the rail or you could be driving, white-knuckles on your steering wheel, in your car.''
Probst admits light rail will not solve all the area's transportation problems, but will provide ``a broader opportunity for people to get around.'' by CNB