The Virginian-Pilot
©
About 125,000 Navy personnel use area roads daily to get to work. And they could use some help, a draft report by the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization shows.
The study identifies transportation needs for the military and recommends improvements, suggesting, among other things, more lanes across the Hampton Roads harbor, replacing or rehabbing deficient bridges, light-rail extensions, and high-speed passenger trains to Washington, D.C., that can get their people to the Pentagon and back in a day.
But it does not identify funding.
Military personnel - including active duty, reserves, retirees and their families - number 300,000, about 20 percent of the region's population.
Military representatives told planners that congestion hurts their ability to maintain military personnel or even bring additional personnel here. Traffic not only affects daily commuting but also travel times between installations during business hours.
"Time in transit, particularly when amplified by delays at bridges, tunnels and several traffic congestion delays, significantly detracts from mission-performance effectiveness and efficiency," retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Jon A. Gallinetti told regional planners as they prepared the report.
Retired Rear Adm. Paul E. Tobin Jr. said a key element of success for the Navy's mission is mobility, but it's impeded "because our transportation infrastructure is in decline and struggling to meet our needs."
Traffic safety is so important that the fleet commander gets briefed weekly on accidents and incidents involving Navy personnel, the report says.
Among the recommendations:
- Emphasize roadways serving the military when prioritizing construction and maintenance needs.
- Widen portions of Interstate 64; improve I-264 interchanges; add capacity across the Hampton Roads harbor, whether it be at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel or a new crossing; and expand light rail to Norfolk Naval Station and into Virginia Beach.
- Replace or rehabilitate structurally deficient bridges, including Victory Boulevard over Paradise Creek in Portsmouth, Granby Street over Masons Creek in Norfolk, and I-264 over Lynnhaven Parkway in Virginia Beach.
- Use a minimum vertical clearance of 14 feet as tunnels are constructed or replaced, a minimum vertical clearance of 16 feet at new interstate bridges, and a minimum of 12 feet on new highway lanes to accommodate military vehicles.
The planning organization, within the year, will survey military personnel about challenges on their daily commutes.
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Service member locations
This really began with the push of moving service members into off base housing. When most members lived on or close to the base there was not as much traffic as there is now that service members are coming from throughout the area to the base.
Combine park-n-rides with transportation
We need multiple train routes into and out of the city centers, with realistic stops along the way and terminating at park-n-ride lots. Make it easier to use mass transit than it is to clog up the roads with single-passenger vehicles. Ultimately, I'd love to see enough reasonable public transportation that people could get from Moyock to Williamsburg, from Suffolk to the resort area, from Western Branch to Little Creek with a few train transfers. If Moyock-Busch Gardens could be done via train in 2.5 hours or less, that would be fantastic.
Transportaion
If light rail was "really" all about mobility, improving military readiness, reducing congestion, and reducing time in traffic, then LRT studies and construction would have STARTED at Gate at Naval Station Norfolk and spread out from there. Nothing planned for the NNSY. Instead, we have a system (MHO) aimed at political paybacks for developers and the benefit of tourists. They have already admitted it is a development tool vice a means to reduce congestion. $338MIL spent to possibly move 2900 people a day, vice new roads that could move 2900 people in an hour. This LRT system was a lie in 1999 and the lie continues today.
Time in transit-$100 mil overrun- $40,0000 a month for Shucet
As the Ret. Maj. Gen. said "time in transit" etc. affects readiness. I can only assume the planners know how slow LRT is but dont want to admit it. I rode the LRT in Baltimore recently, through the barricaded shops on Howard St. Classic inner city with bars on every shop that was still surviving. The LRT was incredibly slow for the 6 stops that I had to go and they were operating on the "honor" system just like the boondogle in Norfolk. This is the "vision" Jim Spore has for VB in his love for a dense urban environment.
In Balt. riders pay only 19% of operating and 7% of total costs. Taxpayers kick in the rest. Remember the $100 mil and the $40,000 a month Phil Shucet received for cleaning up this colossal mess.
LRT=you know
Not all are the same
Saying that all LRT systems are the same is like saying all airplanes are the same. Different cities have different types of systems. I've used some that are quite fast and some that are slow. Some that are so dirty even rats wouldn't use them and others you could eat off the floors.
We know what we've got now and it's not working. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a sure sign of insanity - and sure to fail.
Just try and fine a passenger transportation system that isn't government subsidized. There isn't a single form of passenger transportation that isn't taxpayer supported here in America, it's that simple.
wonder if the ground level light rail will cross Hampton Blvd
How many times will the ground level light rail cross Hampton Blvd stopping traffic while waiting to get through security on the navy base?
Let's make the light rail off the ground (like a monorail) and have security screening at the station instead of the base gate.
Maglev ;)
Just have the light rail to the Navy Base use the abandoned Maglev tracks!
Maglev is cool. I hear the
Maglev is cool. I hear the professor over at ODU was making pretty good progress in fixing the issues with the levitation system and everything.
It's a school, research is their thing. Research and fix.
From our esteemed developer -The citizenry is ignorant & stupid
"The ignorance of our citizenry about how much we pay for roads is astounding." Well speak for yourself Mikey. And the price of gasoline in Bahrain is about $1.25 a gallon. So what? Your arrogance speaks volumes sir. $200 doesn't buy the same in VA as it does in Alabama. We could fix our roads if it wasn't for light rail Mikey. We have spent $338MIL in Norfolk for a train to nowhere. We are poised to spend $1.6BIL to extend it to VB with no end in sight. That is what is stupid. That money would be better spent on roads in VA. So get off your high horse Mikey and give some consideration to the taxpayers pocketbook instead of your own. And feel free to stroke a check for additional gas taxes on behalf of the rest of us.
well said
Should rename the HRTPO from "transportation planning" to HRDPO...."developer planning".
These self-professed leaders have no concept of transporation planning, just developer incentive spending.