Work along part of I-264 to shut off signs, cameras

Posted to: News Traffic - Transportation Virginia Beach
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By Cindy Clayton
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 30, 2012

VIRGINIA BEACH

The overhead electronic message signs and cameras along part of Interstate 264 will be dark this week during repairs.

The work was scheduled to begin Sunday night and will continue from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. each day through the week, according to a news release from the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The work will be done from Rosemont Road to Birdneck Road.

Drivers can expect delays in the southbound lanes at Rosemont Road.

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Signs are useless....

Submitted by GimpyKnee on Mon, 01/30/2012 at 11:07 am.

Over the left/HOV lane - should say HOV or open to all traffic. What does it tell me, that the downtown tunnel is congested. That same message has been shown 24/7 for 10 years, regardless of whether or not the tunnel is actually congested.

And, far too many of the signs are broken - as another poster noted - the messages are unreadable.

Wasted time and money.

Traffic reports? I commute to Portsmouth daily, and the traffic reports will routinely tell me that westbound is backed up to City Hall, when there is actually no delay at all. I just take my chances with the tunnel - the signs don't help, and neither does the radio.

The Real Reason

Submitted by justmefromnorfolk on Mon, 01/30/2012 at 10:57 am.

Apparently, from the comments, people don't realize all the benefits and uses of the cameras. When a car breaks down, or there is an accident, someone sees it. Help is immediately dispatched. This is great for safety.

In addition, messages are relayed to new media, so that you can hear on the radio what the traffic conditions are. Every day I listen for the traffic report before heading out, to see if I need an alternative route. I check the cameras online before leaving work to see which route to take.

Whether you read them or

Submitted by Eartiden on Mon, 01/30/2012 at 10:03 am.

Whether you read them or not, those electronic signs are a mess! You could barely make out those messages. "Was the accident on 64 or 264?" You could make out the "64" but was that a "2" in front of it or just more electronic garble crap?

Now, how will we get those

Submitted by mm12175 on Mon, 01/30/2012 at 9:23 am.

Now, how will we get those important traffic messages like, "#*.,affic(&(*&$(*&!9 miles@#$KJH264FL#*#$)*"

OH NO!!!! HOW WILL WE EVER SURVIVE!!!!

Submitted by ohmie on Mon, 01/30/2012 at 8:22 am.

The local news media will be the ONLY ones that notice the camera outage. I don't think we'll miss seeing "TEST" on the boards. The Pilot reporters would be doing a GREAT public service by doing an investigative article on the cost to plan, install, maintain and monitor these and other systems. Can you imagine the savings in our ROAD FUNDS by cutting programs like these? Just yesterday my wife and I were driving on I664 when she noticed work being done every 50ft or so. Each small site (maybe 4sq ft) had a pole with a small sign with "UD" on it. WHY! IT'S AN INTERSTATE! Then she noticed the street lights every 100ft and the "Evacuation Gates", all costly and NOT needed. It's a spending problem, NOT a funding problem.