Gas pipeline to boost capacity in Churchland

Columbia Gas of Virginia is building almost five miles of new pipeline through Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk to enhance its capacity in and around the Churchland area.

The natural gas company, which serves about 65,000 customers in western Hampton Roads, is tapping into the underwater pipeline that Virginia Natural Gas built last year between the Peninsula and Craney Island.

Columbia Gas will make a loop between Craney Island and College Drive in Suffolk, where its system connects to a major interstate pipeline from the west.

The new loop will allow Columbia Gas to back up its existing system and handle growth in that area, said Bob Innes, a spokesman for the company's Virginia headquarters in Chesterfield County. It expects to spend almost $8 million and complete the project in June.

From Craney Island, the new line will follow Cedar Lane to River Shore Road, then Swannanoa Drive to Twin Pines Road heading south. It will turn on Towne Point Road, continue along Magnolia Drive, cross under the Western Freeway and meet Forest Haven Lane. At Bridge Road, it will head west into Suffolk and onto Old College Drive to connect to its existing system.

Columbia Gas expects to do the work mostly under public streets with little or no construction on private property. The project will cause some traffic congestion and will require residents to avoid parking on the streets where the work is occurring.

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com