The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
Traffic at the Downtown and Midtown tunnels will be "as bad as it's ever been" when the Jordan Bridge is closed and the Gilmerton Bridge is being replaced, a top regional planning official said Wednesday.
The Jordan Bridge will close Nov. 8, and the Gilmerton project will begin next year. During that time, peak afternoon backups at the Downtown Tunnel that now stretch 2.1 miles will grow to 3 miles, according to a Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization analysis. Backups at the Midtown Tunnel could increase from a current 2.8 miles to 3.9 miles, the study shows.
The result could be "worse than when the Midtown Tunnel flooded during Hurricane Isabel" in 2003, said Dwight L. Farmer, executive director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.
Some remedies are in the works. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Planning Organization approved Chesapeake's request to use $500,000 in regional transportation funds to begin express bus service from the Jordan Bridge to downtown Portsmouth, where riders will be able to catch another bus to Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
Traffix, a group at Hampton Roads Transit that promotes transportation alternatives, wants to create carpools and park-and-ride lots for shipyard workers.
But city and regional leaders admitted Wednesday they were still struggling to come up with other ways to alleviate the additional traffic that's expected next year. Farmer and others don't expect the express bus service to solve all of the problems.
"If you're going to sit in the same lines we're calling for, the express bus is not going to be extremely express," Farmer said.
The Jordan Bridge carries about 7,000 vehicles on a typical weekday. Without it during the Gilmerton Bridge replacement, there will be a shift each day of 4,000 more vehicles into the Downtown Tunnel, 1,400 onto the High-Rise Bridge of Interstate 64 and 1,000 into the Midtown Tunnel, according to the Metropolitan Planning Organization study.
The Gilmerton Bridge on Military Highway currently has no backup during peak hours. A project to replace the bridge is expected to begin in July. A section of the road will be reduced from four lanes to two lanes for 40 of the project's 46 months.
During that time, traffic at the Gilmerton will be backed up as much as 2.3 miles on Military Highway, thanks in part to the Jordan Bridge closure, the regional planning study contends.
Earl Sorey, Chesapeake's acting city engineer, said he hopes that tunnel and bridge traffic is not as bad as the study projects. He said many of the shipyard's workers live in southern
Chesapeake and northeastern North Carolina, so they will be able to get to Portsmouth by way of George Washington Highway.
Farmer said ferry service should continue to be looked at. He said that ideas to cut traffic have been discussed, but he would not talk about them. "The other options are pretty draconian," he said.
Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com
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I like sitting in traffic.
It's less time that I have to spend with my nagging wife and three young screaming kids. Usually by the time I finally arrive home after sitting in traffic jams daily, their all finished eating dinner already and I get to eat mine in peace and quiet. I pray everyday for a major backup. Heck, I made sure to pick a house in area that is pure hell to commute to and from daily. Makes the marriage stronger!!
response to Nikki M.'s comment
<<>
You're comparing apples to oranges here.
1) Gilmerton bridge is a movable bridge. There are mechanical and electrical parts that must be installed.
2) Gilmerton will maintain traffic during construction, so the bridge must be built in stages.
3) There are working utilities on the Gilmerton bridge that must be accomodated to maintain continuous service.
4) Gilmerton price tag is about $100 million less than I35W.
And about <<>
VDOT will have very little to do with the construction of this bridge other than administration and quality assurance - since the construction will go to a low-bid contractor.
Comment on the GW Highway
For those of you commenting on the GW Highway thought you might also want to know that the section from the Deep Creek drawbridge to I-64 will be even worse next summer when they start to widen it from 2 lanes to 4 and replace the Long Bridge. Just in this part of Chesapeake we have the Jordan Bridge closing, the Gilmerton and Long Bridges being re-built, the High Rise bridge over capacity, the Steel Bridge way over capacity, and the Deep Creek drawbridge needing replacement but no funding. Ya, get used to congestion!
Orion...
I live in Cradock and work in Chesapeake...I currently take the Jordan and go down 464. With the closure of the Jordan, I will have to go down GWH, turn on Canal, turn on Military and take the Gilmerton. During the construction of the Gilmerton, I will probably have to take GWH down to 64.
So how do you figure we won't have to use GWH?
Orion, I mentioned nothing about the Jordan Bridge, I was
directing my rebuttal to the city engineers comments about GWH, to wit: "Earl Sorey, Chesapeake's acting city engineer, said he hopes that tunnel and bridge traffic is not as bad as the study projects. He said many of the shipyard's workers live in southern Chesapeake and northeastern North Carolina, so they will be able to get to Portsmouth by way of George Washington Highway." He stated they can get to the NNSY & Portsmouth via the GWH and all I said was that he obviously had never spent any time on that road south of I64 during afternoon "rush" hour. From the Deep Creek drawbridge to the interstate at 5pm takes about 30 min going south & and that is a fact cause I drive it everyday. To just make an offhanded remark suggesting that the drivers to the NNSY won't have a problem by using GWH, is a foolinsh statement so I stand by my accusation. Sorry you don't agree, but spend some time sitting in that traffic on GW and you might begin to understand my point of view.
What? 4 years to replace the Gilmerton Bridge!
I don't understand. How can it possibly take 4 years to replace the Gilmerton Bridge? In Minnesota the bridge that collapsed has already been replaced and reopened in about 1 years time. In Mississippi, 2 major artery bridges that were completely destroyed following Hurricane Katrina were replaced in less than 2 years.
We already can't get into or out of downtown Norfolk without encountering traffic jams that take 30-40 minutes to go less than 7 miles and that's on the highway, when there are no accidents. Then factor in all the street level roads leading into and out of Norfolk that are under construction and this area is a locked up parking lot.
Guess I should get a job at VDOT, and get paid to do nothing for 4 years, at least I wouldn't have to leave home.
Just vote for Obama, he will
Just vote for Obama, he will solve the problem.
re: Chesapeake City Engineer Sorley is a fool!
Your post is pure hyperbole and ignorance. Anyone using GWH to go south has no need to use the Jordan, so what is your point?
I suggest you be more careful in calling someone a fool as it may point that accusation directly at you...
Another brilliant Pilot headline!
The closure is "LIKELY" to cause longer backups?
Hey 42
what is your point...do the math...that's a little over $3 million in the last 5 years....how much do you think a new bridge would cost...stop whinning and figure out how you're going to get to work.