State money still short of Hampton Roads' needs

CHESAPEAKE

While city and community leaders expressed gratitude for a bump in funding for Hampton Roads transportation projects, they said Wednesday night that it's still not enough to fix the region's backlog of needs.

The state's proposed six-year improvement program includes at least $1.1 billion for Hampton Roads, about $200 million more than the last six-year plan.

While Virginia Beach has a number of roads funded in the plan, Mayor Will Sessoms noted at the public hearing that the money coming to the city is still less than what the Beach received in direct state transportation allocations several years ago, before the program was suspended for a lack of money.

Virginia Beach was expecting about $360 million for road improvements in the plan; instead, the city will get about 44 percent of that. Funded projects include the Les-ner Bridge replacement and the widenings of Lynnhaven Parkway and Witchduck and Holland roads.

Several speakers advocated for additional state funding for widening Dominion Boulevard and replacing the Steel Bridge in Chesapeake, a $376 million project for which $104 million has been secured. The project is being developed as a toll facility.

Dominion Boulevard had the second highest score in a computer ranking of road priorities conducted by the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization.

"You can make this project more affordable for the city," Chesapeake Mayor Alan Krasnoff told state transportation representatives.

City Manager William Harrell said: "Additional funding translates to lower toll rates for commuters."

Resident Kevin Cosgrove told a story about being delayed 50 minutes on Dominion Boulevard while driving his niece to get medical help for a dog bite to her face. He said the doctor said he could have done more to repair the damage if she had arrived sooner.

Another popular request was for expanded passenger rail service in Hampton Roads and identifying state rail operating funds once federal subsidies end in 2013.

The state has started track upgrades to bring Amtrak service to South Hampton Roads in less than two years. The route connects Norfolk at Harbor Park to Richmond.

While the state has approval for three trains a day, only one can be accommodated because of improvements that are needed at the Appomattox Bridge to handle larger train volumes.

"Frequency of service is critical to realizing the full potential" of bringing rail service to South Hampton Roads, said Barry Bishop, executive vice president of Greater Norfolk Corporation.

The six-year plan also includes money for the Interstate 564 Intermodal Connector and the Military Highway widening in Norfolk, and Interstate 264/Witchduck Road interchange improvements.

The region also stands to gain a large chunk of $1.4 billion reserved for public-private toll projects. Four projects are vying for that money, and two are in Hampton Roads - expanding the Midtown Tunnel and rebuilding U.S. 460 to interstate quality.