DATE: Wednesday, April 30, 1997             TAG: 9704300508

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   70 lines

MONITOR-MERRIMAC RIVER CROSSING OF THE JAMES HAS ITS 5TH BIRTHDAY

The Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, described by facility manager Bruce J. Wilkerson as a ``smooth sail across the James River,'' turns 5 today.

For months after it opened on April 30, 1992, the connector remained relatively unknown in Hampton Roads. That is changing as motorists recognize it as an alternative to the congested Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and as the bridge fuels explosive growth in northern Suffolk.

Only 24,150 cars a day took the I-664 alternate route the first year. Last year, about 36,190 vehicles a day chose what many local motorists now call ``the M&M.''

By comparison, an average 81,129 vehicles a day use the older Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. Both have the same capacity: 60,000.

Bill Cannell, public relations coordinator for VDOT, said things are picking up rapidly as the bridge-tunnel becomes better known as a quick route between northern Suffolk and the Peninsula.

Tunnel traffic has increased about 13 percent in the past two years across the 4.5-mile route.

``The number of cars using the Monitor-Merrimac is growing now faster than we expected,'' Cannell said. ``If this kind of growth continues, we could be at capacity by 2003 or 2004.''

Wilkerson said motorists often take advantage of the easy ride to drive a little faster than the posted speed limit of 55 mph.

``Our traffic patterns are between 6 and 9 a.m. and 3:30 to 6 p.m.,'' Wilkerson said. ``During off hours, the speed is awful high here, for those who want to take the chance.

``And our traffic volume is catching up every day. One day, we'll be as busy as everybody else.''

There will be no official party as the Virginia Department of Transportation celebrates the span's birthday.

The Monitor-Merrimac, which cost $400 million, was named in honor of the Civil War battle that took place in local waters between the ironclad vessels the C.S.S. Virginia, or Merrimac, and the union ship Monitor.

Initial studies predicted that traffic would increase about 5 percent a year, with the bridge-tunnel reaching its capacity of 60,000 cars a day by the year 2010.

The connector has definitely accomplished one thing that experts predicted - bringing growth to northern Suffolk. ``The city of Suffolk is in a take-off mode in terms of its residential growth,'' said John Whaley, director of economics for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. ``Residential building permits are growing at an (exponential) rate. It has put Suffolk so close to the Peninsula and points beyond.''

Residential building permits in the city increased from 115 in 1990 to a high of 806 in 1995 and 714 in 1996. The slight decline between '95 and '96 is indicative of the market at that time, Whaley said. Overall, Suffolk's growth rate over the six-year period was 35.6 percent.

``The growth rate is very high in terms of where the city is in its developmental life,'' Whaley said. ``Suffolk is actually in its very early stages of development, about where Virginia Beach was during the '60s. It's just beginning to develop rapidly.''

Part of the development is attributed to Harbor View, the upscale development of homes, offices and businesses that has built up in Suffolk, near the southern end of the bridge-tunnel.

But the traffic increase is attributed simply to convenience.

Newport News is a 10-minute drive from Suffolk, Portsmouth's Churchland area and the Western Branch section of Chesapeake. Downtown Hampton is about 15 minutes away. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot

Highway equipment senior technician Mike Werhan watches traffic

emerge from the Monitor-Merrimac tunnel, part of the I-664 link

connecting northern Suffolk to downtown Newport News. KEYWORDS: MONITOR-MERRIMAC BRIDGE TUNNEL

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