NORFOLK
The motoring and maritime communities are squaring off over a new Berkley Bridge lift policy that opens the drawbridge on a set schedule instead of at the demand of ship captains.
The bridge, at the mouth of the Downtown Tunnel, now lifts at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on weekdays only if vessels are waiting. Lifts continue to be restricted during rush hours and take place on demand on evenings and weekends.
The change is a test that went into effect in mid-October.
State highway officials lobbied for the new policy because unscheduled, sometimes back-to-back, lifts snarl traffic at the connecting Downtown Tunnel, which is already clogged by congestion.
Maritime leaders, however, say they were not consulted and complain that the new lift schedule hampers waterborne commerce and creates operational and safety hazards for ships.
The U.S. Coast Guard plans to test the schedule for five months but has indicated that it wants to extend the change through October 2012.
"If we feel it's not working, we can stop it at any time and go back to the old regulation, or make changes, or do something else," said Waverly Gregory, bridge administrator for the Coast Guard's fifth district.
The shift in operation is the latest move that gives land-based transportation priority over waterborne transportation at the Berkley Bridge. Four years ago, rush-hour restrictions for ships were extended by an hour and a half a day.
The Downtown Tunnel is the most heavily traveled of the region's five tunnels, carrying about 100,000 vehicles a day. For each bridge opening, traffic is stopped for an average of 12 to 15 minutes and stacks up about 1-1/2 miles on each side of the Downtown Tunnel, according to VDOT estimates.
With the Jordan Bridge closed and construction starting on the Gilmerton Bridge - both are Elizabeth River crossings in Chesapeake - transportation officials expect the Downtown Tunnel to get even more congested.
Highway officials are urging and lobbying motorists to express support for the new schedule.
"In the absence of support from the citizens of Hampton Roads, the schedule of bridge lifts is in jeopardy," VDOT district administrator Dennis Heuer said.
A recent letter from Heuer to Hampton Roads leaders states that each 15-minute Berkley Bridge opening costs an average of more than $22,000 in motorists' lost time - using a formula based on Texas Transportation Institute's methodology for computing congestion costs. That amounts to $1.1 million worth of lost time in a month of unscheduled openings, he said.
Conversely, Art Moye, executive vice president of the Virginia Maritime Association, said the change hurts the shipping community's pocketbook.
"We think the effects are significant," he said. The restricted lifts hurt commerce, he said, and the system creates unsafe conditions for boats that must queue up in a narrow channel while maneuvering for tides, currents and weather.
About 15 businesses including shipyards and material companies along the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River depend on timely navigation under the bridge, Moye said.
The association is gathering information from them and other members and will make an official recommendation soon.
Among the 11 businesses that have responded so far, nine indicated they are expanding or planning expansions and all but one of those nine said the new lift schedule is detrimental to their plans.
"The maritime community offers the best opportunity for growth in the region and the state so we need to protect it," Moye said.
Moye said his organization is also upset because of being informed of the change less than two weeks before it went into effect.
"We don't agree with the way this was done," he said.
The association immediately asked that it be rescinded, but was denied.
"If we found the test deviation we now have in place is detrimental to the maritime community, we would stop it now," the Coast Guard's Gregory said. "But it doesn't seem to be unsafe at this moment."
He conceded, however, that the change was sudden for shippers.
"We could have done a better job keeping them apprised of it," Gregory said.
The association is trying to work with VDOT, the Coast Guard and its members to find a compromise that works for all transportation modes.
"We're commuters too, so we know there needed to be some changes," Moye said. "We just don't want to see one solution creating other problems."
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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Bridge Lifts
Living in Portsmouth,I support the restricted bridge lifts. Both my elderly parents are handicapped and the doctors that care for them are located in Norfolk and Va. Beach. Traffic backups because of unscheduled bridge lifts has resulted in numerous late appointments to their doctors. My mother is a dialysis patient and she is transported via ambulance to and from the dialysis unit. She was forced to change doctors because we couldn't schedule these life saving dialysis appointments with her preferred and better qualified doctor because of congested tunnel traffic. The scheduled bridge openings has alleviated traffic backups and we have been allowed to keep the other physicians that care for my parents.
Lift timing
I support the scheduled lifts, but wonder about, say, large Navy vessels which must consider tides while entereing/leaving. Is there a provision for them?
Berkley Bridge-Scheduled Lifts
I strongly support the scheduled bridgelifts for the Berkley Bridge. It has made my daily commute much easier and predictable. It is remarkable that such a simple change in policy has made commuting so much easier, without the necessity of building more roads, bridges, tunnels, etc. Since the new policy started about one month ago, I have never encountered a traffic jam on my way home from work. I work in Portmouth but live in Virginia Beach, so I use the Berkley Bridge and Downtown Tunnel every day. For the morning commute, since I have always come to work well before 0600, there is never a problem with bridgelifts. However, the afternoon commute (prior to the new policy of scheduled bridgelifts) has always been problematic. For 13 years I have worked until 1430, then departed for home. Approximately once or twice per week, I would find traffic at a standstill as I approached the entrance to the downtown tunnel, as the traffic from the Naval Hospital, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and other big enterprises converged from many streets into the very limited eastbound ramp leading to the tunnel. Most of these traffic jams seem to have been caused by bridegelifts on demand, for a
Maybe
if the maritime industry would think of commuters every once in a awhile and coordinate lifts so we don't experience the back-to-back lifts we wouldn't have to do this. And maybe if the CG would allow maritime industry on demand but not charter or pleasure craft to demand it would be better.
BERKLEY BRIDGE SCHEDULE
VDOT submitted the request to the USCG in February. Nothing was done by them until the Pilot ran an article about the horrendous traffic delays each time the Berkley opens. The request sat with the USCG for 7 months with no activity. The USCG then approved a temporary test period with scheduled openings. When the USCG approved the temporary test period, they and VDOT ran information about it in the newspaper, on TV, overhead message signs, and if various other media outlets for 10 days prior to October 19, the day the change went into effect. If VMA wants to complain about the short notice, they should direct there questions to the USCG as to why it took them so long to approve and without much prior notification.
We in the Hampton Roads area have been plagued with a tremendous increase of traffic volume on the roadways. This one change has made a positive impact for the motorists and needs to be made permanent. It has been quite evident that our local politicians who constantly beat their chests about traffic issues have been quiet on this issue. Why have they not spoken in favor of this change?