The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
City staff is recommending that the Jordan Bridge close by Nov. 1, and the City Council will decide the bridge's fate next week.
Chesapeake will also ask the Metropolitan Planning Organization next week for about $500,000 for a proposed express service from the bridge to downtown Portsmouth, where commuters would catch a bus to Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
After the council vote, drivers using the Jordan Bridge will be given information directing them to alternative routes including the Downtown Tunnel, the High-Rise Bridge on Interstate 64 and the Gilmerton Bridge on Military Highway, Public Works Department officials say.
Traffic is also expected to increase on George Washington Highway as shipyard workers from Chesapeake and northeastern North Carolina try to find a new route to Portsmouth, officials say.
Chesapeake leaders have said they would like to close the 80-year-old bridge by the end of the year. With Nov. 1 less than four weeks away, Public Works officials are hoping that more community meetings will help get out the word.
That date is not a done deal. Ultimately, the council will decide whether to go along with the staff recommendation, said Eric Martin, Chesapeake's interim Public Works director.
The Jordan Bridge carries about 7,000 vehicles each weekday. Roughly 2,000 are going to and from the shipyard.
An annual inspection of the bridge earlier this year revealed 10 critical problems that need to be re paired. The city released a report in August calling for the bridge's closure if $4 million in structural repairs were not made within the next year. Public Works officials said an additional $13 million in repairs would be needed within 10 years.
In community presentations and a media tour, city officials have made the case for closing the bridge by pointing out its rusted and corroded deck and support beams. That hasn't convinced everyone. Some residents say they want the city to spend money to repair it.
"They've been bent for years on closing the bridge," said Burnie Mansfield, secretary of the Chesapeake Port Authority and president of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations. "They're going to cause a lot of gridlock. When you're sitting in traffic, think about the people who closed the bridge."
Express bus service is not the only thing in the works to alleviate traffic. Traffix, an umbrella group at Hampton Roads Transit that promotes transportation alternatives, is looking at creating car pools and park-and-ride lots for shipyard workers.
Traffix may also lease 7-, 12- and 15-seat vans to shipyard employees, who may then charge others for a lift to work. Chesapeake has asked the HRT group to keep 15 of those vans on standby, said Traffix director Ron Hodges.
Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com
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The whinners...
on here are the same people who would be demanding the heads of the city's leaders if the bridge were left open and some were killed by a failure of the structure....Mr. Mansfield only cares about the impact that the closing will have on the SoNo project.....the bridge is unsafe, that is a fact...and all of this whinning about the Gilmerton or the extra traffic on the others accesses to Portsmouth does not change that fact.....close it now before someone is hurt or killed!
Jordan Bridge
OK who has had their fingers in the cookie jar and for what. Where did the toll money go???????? I bet if this were in Great Bridge the money would appear. WHAT A SURPRISE. Here we go again. South Norfolk is the step child of chesapeake. Why isn't someone finding out about this money. Lets see, a bike trail, or a bridge from comuters??? I don't have a problem deciding which is more important, why does the city. I am so fed up with Chesapeake, I would move but at this stage in my life I can not afford to.That is said before some smarty pants says move. I was born and raised in South Norfolk, I raised my children here and work in the public schools. Long live South Norfolk. I have history here all the way back to the 1800's. I remember when they used a pontoon bridge in The Great Bridge while the old bridge was being repaired. Of couse we couldn't want to inconvience anyone in that area or make them have to take another route. This is the stupidist thing I have ever seen from Chesapeake. I agree that this decision was made long, long ago, just not made public. Just remember these people will come up for relection sometime, where is your vote going? It really doesn't matter what any o
once upon a time - a bridge was built,
there was a need and demand for this link across the water. nothing has changed except the work force on both sides of the bridge. it's a travesty to lose this bridge. So Long Sono.
Jordan Bridge closing
Closing the Jordan Bridge on the proposed schedule is wrong. Somebody needs to remind the City that the Gilmerton Bridge is undergoing construction at the present time, and it is expected to continue into December. Why not delay the closing until the Gilmerton Bridge construction project is completed so as to not clog the other routes that are already overstressed because of the construction? Give the other routes a chance to recover before dumping all of that traffic elsewhere. The City can plan development projects through 2016 in the Comprehensive Plan, but they cannot come up with a hopefully short-term plan to better handle the influx of traffic on already overburdened roads? With the gas crunch that we already have, you are now asking us to sit in long lines of traffic longer and waste fuel. So we can run to the gas stations and pay more in city taxes. What do the citizens of Chesapeake get in return? How about adjusting the bridge opening schedules to avoid the back-ups that occur during rush hour? How about some tax incentives to "reward" us having to adjust our whole days? Something that citizens can see immediate effects of. Something other than rhetoric that be
Ferry fares may have been in
Ferry fares may have been in the works since May, Mr. Ragsdale, but the closure of the Jordan Bridge has been in the works for much longer, and if HRT didn't know that then they're even more clueless about regional transportation needs than I suspected. The VDOT sufficiency rating for the Jordan Bridge has been steadily dropping for a decade.
But since the 50% rate hike is already a done deal, how at least using some of that extra cash to make long-needed improvements in service, such as extending the morning hours, going from 30- to 20- minute service, or adding new ferry stops near the shipyards in Portsmouth and Berkley?
Parking
Where do they plan to park all of those cars while they are taking the shuttle? There is no room except for where they plan to build the Bellharbour Project. The park across the street does not have a large enough lot.
I'm willing...
Show me mass transit that will get me to work in under two hours (Kempsville/Centerville to Naval Hospital). If I have to drive 5 miles to get to the nearest Park and Ride, what's the point? I was excited about the MAX bus...but it doesn't go where I need to be.
Good to see
I am glad to see at least one person mention alternative mass transit. Now is the time to plan for and create a link between Portsmouth and Chesapeake using alternate transportation. Extend the light rail into Portsmouth. It won't be long before Northern Suffolk finds the planning and funding to extend it to their technology corridor. Before you know it, a worker at Lockheed Martin in Northern Suffolk could attend a meeting with an associate at the oceanfront without ever stepping foot in a car.
Where did all the "stolen"
Where did all the "stolen" toll money go? Not repairs!
A Govenor's Job is her people
"I heard they are going to sell the bridge to Palin"
I am willing to bet there are a lot of people connected to that bridge who wish Palin was their govenor right now. If there msut be pork, I say state and local leaders should be using a really big fork to fill their plate.