Beach corridor deal opens route to future

After years of stalled negotiations over a critical corridor from Newtown Road to Town Center and the Oceanfront, Virginia Beach and Norfolk Southern Corp. finally have a handshake agreement to turn the rail right of way over to the city.

Making good on a campaign promise, Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms aggressively pursued a deal on the 10.6-mile line, believing - correctly - that the rail bed is crucial to his city's future transportation needs.

Sessoms knew $10 million in state funding was available but probably not for long. He knew the city couldn't spend more than $10 million from its reserves. He knew various appraisals of the property pegged the price at $40 million or more.

Now Virginia Beach has a deal for $10 million (the state is still negotiating its share) that must be finalized but that may rival the city's 1994 purchase of Lake Ridge in terms of smart business moves. The investment gives Virginia Beach control over the straight east-west path from the Norfolk border to the Convention Center, blocks from the beach.

The purchase is critical not just for Virginia Beach but for all of Hampton Roads, a smart link to a regional transportation plan that one day should allow employees, residents and tourists to get to work and entertainment without driving.

Much remains to be done before the sale is complete, let alone before construction on the corridor begins.

The city and Norfolk Southern must decide details and approve a contract. An environmental impact study must be done that assesses the costs of building in the corridor and how it might affect the surroundings. The City Council must convince residents of the need for an investment in light rail. State and federal officials must lobby for money.

Sessoms, Vice Mayor Louis Jones and state Sen. Ken Stolle have wisely helped the city capitalize on an opportunity to leverage state money for a corridor that for years has seemed out of reach. It's an investment in the city's foundation, a key to public transportation that will benefit everyone.

A decade ago, the City Council and other leaders failed to make a case for mass transit as part of Virginia Beach's future, and voters rejected light rail. Since then, maddening traffic jams and roller-coaster gas prices have spurred renewed interest.

Norfolk's 7.4-mile starter line, scheduled to open in 2010, provides enormous momentum for a regional solution to a vexing regional problem. If that line can be expanded, to Virginia Beach and to the Navy bases and even to the west, it begins to provide a real alternative to roads.

Rather than try to build, widen and patch more asphalt, Virginia Beach should begin putting its money where it can do more good. The Norfolk Southern right of way is an excellent start.