THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9606280162
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On the Street
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: 66 lines
A light rail system is about as welcome to locals as a slug in the tomato patch.
The powers that be in Virginia Beach think it's just another scheme by Norfolk to rip off the resort businesses and dump a lot of nonspending, trouble-making day-trippers on the Oceanfront.
The Tidewater Transportation District Commission, on the other hand, views a light rail system as a badly needed escape valve for commuter traffic building up on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway. By 2015-to-2030, the Expressway will be a parking lot, studies show. A Virginia Beach-to-Norfolk trip that now takes 15 to 20 minutes will take an hour or more.
The commission wants a study done on a proposed light rail system along 15 1/2 miles of Norfolk Southern Corp. tracks from the Oceanfront to downtown Norfolk. Virginia Beach is stalling because of a number of factors, one of them being Norfolk's involvement in efforts to stall its Lake Gaston water project. Norfolk Southern is miffed, claiming it has never been consulted about using its tracks for a light rail system.
Now along comes retired Army Maj. Harry Luman, a Beach resident, who tells planners to raise their sights. Look higher, farther, says Luman, a gray-haired, gravel-voiced man in his early 80s.
What Luman has in mind - and he's done considerable research on this - is an expensive but potentially practical plan: build an elevated or monorail train system that would stave off highway gridlock AND attract tourist ridership regionally.
Yes, Luman concedes, it's a pie-in-the-sky idea, but rather than slap together a clanking, conventional, two-bit, grade-level streetcar system between downtown Norfolk and the Beach, planners should elevate their thinking. Think sleek, think open - as in lots of windows. Think fast, think entertainment and amusement as well as moving people. Think Disneyland.
``Cars have a powerful hold over people,'' Luman acknowledges. ``But, an elevated or a monorail (system) would get 'em out of their cars and into trains.''
This could be especially true if the route were extended from the Oceanfront to Norfolk, the Navy base, Williamsburg, maybe even Richmond. There could be possible links with the Amtrak network. Building could be done in increments until the rail system reaches Richmond, says Luman, who suggests paying for it with a regional sales tax or fee.
The cost, Luman agrees, would be far more than the $376 million cited as the price tag for the ground-level rail system planned for Norfolk and Virginia Beach. But, Luman points out, an elevated rail system might be a lot cheaper in the long run than continued highway construction that never quite accommodates the growing number of motor vehicles on the road.
An elevated system could be a classy, comfortable way to move work-bound commuters as well as tourists and shoppers. Imagine cruising along at treetop level to Williamsburg or to the Oceanfront. Could be fun, not just a boring, sweaty ride.
Even if politicians and bureaucrats think it's a crazy, impractical idea, Luman wants them to think about it, that's all. Give it some thought. ILLUSTRATION: File photo courtesy of THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
Retired Army Maj. Harry Luman says a monorail, like the one at
Disney World, could be built to have routes that extend from the
Oceanfront to downtown Norfolk, the Navy base, Williamsburg, maybe
even Richmond.
KEYWORDS: LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM by CNB