virginia pe

I appreciate the thought that went into your ideas, but you suggested a few things that would be very difficult to implement. Putting retail on the ground floor of the Waterside Garage is a good idea, except the ground level of the garage is a few feet higher than the sidewalk on Waterside Drive, so there is no way for pedestrians to access the retail spaces. You cannot lower the floor level of the garage without exposing the foundations. So you would have to raise the elevation of Waterside Drive and the sidewalk, and still maintain the proper clearance under the pedestrian bridge. Rebuilding the platform at BofA is also difficult. There is important bank operations space under the platform on the south side (toward Waterside Drive). There is a driveway from Atlantic Street right beside the drive-in teller lanes. This driveway curves around and goes down under the platform. This is where the armored trucks bring in the money. Obviously, security is very, very tight there. I do not see BofA giving up their driveway or the platform above their loading dock. You seem to want to eliminate all of the pedestrian plazas except for sidewalks, such as the plaza outside the retail fronts on Granby at the World Trade Center Garage and the BofA platform. To me, having all of the buildings built out to the sidewalk line would create concrete canyons that are very unfriendly for pedestrians. I like the BofA site - the grass, bushes, and trees traverse by walkways. I appreciate density, but green space is important, too. If BofA were being built today, that "mini-park" would earn one LEED credit for maximizing open space.

It is not a matter of the engineer not paying attention. This project falls under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Bureau of Capital Outlay Management (BCOM). The normal BCOM procedure does not require the engineer-of-record to inspect the project during construction. The agency (which is ODU) must provide an inspector, but I have seen BCOM projects where the inspection is lax to non-existent. BCOM also requires an independent testing agency to perform testing, but the discrepancies shown in the photos do not appear to be elements that the testing agency would normally be responsible for. Also, since this is a BCOM project, the city inspector is unlikely to ever set foot on the jobsite until just before kickoff for the first game. Having said all that, I seriously doubt that there is a problem here. It is true that all of the connections and the precast design is done by professional engineers. But I have seen cases where things did not come together in the field, and the contractor took it on himself to devise a solution. But like you said, precast parking garages tend to be pretty straightforward. I have not seen this type of discrepancy before, but I suspect they occur often enough that the precast manufacturer and his structural engineer have developed standard "fixes" for discrepancies of this type. When they occur, the precaster's engineer finds the sketch for the appropriate fix in his computer and emails it to the field. Note the designation "30K" on the steel joist seat. This probably means the member is designed for 30 kips, or 30,000 pounds (1 kip, or kilopound, = 1,000 pounds). They would not put this designation on the element if it were custom-made for this project. It implies that they have a bin full of these at the precaster's shop, and when they need one for a 30 kip load, they pull it from the bin and send it to the jobsite.

Some of the photos look questionable or marginal, but I would not form a definite opinion without a first-hand observation in the field. Even then, you might need to have information on the actual structural loads and design assumptions.

I agree with Norfolk4Life that the I-64 corridor is the most logical route for a light rail line to the Naval Base, even though Fraim said it would continue past EVMS and around Lambert's Point and up Hampton Boulevard. Mayor Fraim can say whatever he wants to as long as Norfolk is the only player in the game. I believe eventually Virginia Beach will join in, and when they do, everything will change. Virginia Beach people want to go the the Naval Base, and they do not want to have to ride to downtown and the medical complex to get there.

I agree that this is the case with most issues in this region, but not with light rail. Norfolk is the undisputed lead chief, because they put their money where their mouth is. If light rail is successful with their starter line in Norfolk, it will undoubtedly expand to the other cities, for whichever routes can show enough ridership to meet federal financing guidelines.

But would you get get on a bus in your neighborhood and ride to the light rail station? For example, if you lived in Indian Lakes off Indian River Road in Kempsville, would you catch a bus and ride up Kempsville Road to catch the Tide at the Witchduck Station? Part of the light rail concept is to revamp the bus system to be a feeder system for light rail instead of moving people from their home neighborhood to their final destination.

The purpose of this deck is to party, not to see the game. But the real reason the deck is all one level is that steps create ADA problems.

My, my! "I'm in heaven"? "Monstrous"? Are we feeling a tad dramatic today? Keep in mind that for some of these projects, the staff that assembled the Master Plan may not have had any more information than we do when they made up this presentation. The 'renderings' may may be more their vision than the architect's.

I am as disgusted with NSU's whining as everyone else, but to be fair, I don't think they are the main culprit. The cost of the NSA changes is $1.5 million. Skanska's bid for the segment from Harbor Park to Sentara Hospital was $15 million above the city's estimate. (Don't ask me how you even try to estimate the difficulties of putting a light rail track through downtown with over 100 years' of utilties under the street.) I don't think they should abandon the NSA station, even though NSU doesn't deserve one because of their attitude. My concern is that the first time a student is killed crossing Brambleton Avenue, they will whine for a pedestrian bridge from the station to the campus (at taxpayers' expense, of course). Then we will be back to the original concept, with direct access from the LR station to campus, but with an expenditure of millions of dollars for the LR redesign plus the cost of the bridge. Speaking of pedestrian bridges, NSU demanded the pedestrian bridge across I-264, too. I understand the NSU end of that bridge is now gated and locked to keep "undesireables" out of the campus.

One of Ridgeways' largest customers is MMM Design Group. (In fact, MMM owned Ridgeways years ago.) Almost four years ago, MMM moved from the Wainwright Building to 300 East Main Street, directly across from the Bank of America Center. Two weeks ago, Ridgeways relocated to ground floor of the same building. Since the Wainwright is almost all medical offices, that storefront probably has better uses than a reprographics shop. 300 East Main Street is the blue building in the center of this photograph. By the way, the Wainwright Building is owned by the developers of the Commodore Maury Condos / Office Building.

The Pilot could have at least used a photograph of the front of the building. The Granby Street elevation has some interesting architectural elements. The Freemason elevation is not as exciting, but it's not bad. The Pilot chose a photo of the two sides facing an alley and a parking lot.

It would be a challenge to put a tower on the Kirn site. Every floor needs elevators, stairs, restrooms, and mechanical chases. All of these elements and their utilites come down to the ground floor, and would have to be located around the light rail that bisects the site diagonally. Not just the rail itself, but the public space for waiting, ticketing, etc. adjacent to the rail line. Once you locate all of these elements at the ground level, you have to make sure they are also located on the floor plan for the upper floors so that there is a logical layout that is leasable. However, the library seems to have a good deal of space. I think it may be possible. New York's bedrock provides more economical foundation, but having to drive piles does not preclude a tower. A small lot can still have a tower, but the lot size may limit the height of the tower. In general, when the height of the tower is more than five times the width, it gets pretty expensive. I believe you could build a tower on this site - maybe not 20 stories, but still a tower. The foundation for Cosmo 418 on a lot that is only 20 feet wide would have been a bigger challenge. I do not think there is enough space for a grand concourse, as has been suggested, but a tower appears to be doable. What I like best about the Gindroz design is that the buildings are relatively small and inexpensive - in other words, disposable. When the city lacks the vision to build something bold and original, at least they should refrain from building an expensive, permanent mistake. (The same can be said about the parking lot at St. Pauls Quadrant - at least it's not Broad Creek suburban-style housing.) When light rail becomes a proven success, some developer will propose a high-rise tower on this site if the city will donate the land. With the light rail station, this land is just too valuable for a bunch of small pavillions and an outdoor plaza. If the politicians and bureaucrats lack vision, the private sector will provide it. Part of what makes Wachovia successful is its location next to a light rail station, but that will be nothing compared to having a light rail station in the building. When it happens, let's hope the preservationists do not insiste the clock tower be incorporated into the facade of the new building.

These stores that are going bankrupt are the ones, like Sharper Image, that sold high-end products and items that might be considered "luxuries". They relied on the discretionary spending power of the baby boomers. Now the boomers are nearing retirement, and they are seeing their home values dropping and the value of their stock slipping. They are not buying all of the toys and the frills that they used to, and the stores are going bankrupt. No matter how closely the Mall may investigate potential tenants, it would have been difficult to see this coming five years ago. (Unless they had Tel on their vetting committee.)

The picture of the Tide shows LR crossing Waterside Drive at St. Paul's Boulevard. There is no light rail proposed for that location. Poetic license, I guess.

The inset map on the bidclerk website shows the project on Little Creek Road near Ward's Corner.

The following link provides a list of all of the bid packages for light rail that HRT has issued so far. Bids for the CBD civil work are due next Friday, January 25. Note that they combined part of the marine bridges bid package with the CBD package, so it's possible that the Brambleton Avenue bridge is part of the CBD package. If so, then award could come by March or April, and work could start shortly after that. http://www.gohrt.com/aboutus/procurement/solicitations.html

Here's a link to the Fort Norfolk Plaza website that shows the location and the shape of the site fairly well. https://www.fortnorfolkplaza.com/FNP_Images..._Photos_700.png

According to a notice from the Downtown Norfolk Council, this surface lot is to replace the parking that will be lost when the Monticello Parking Garage is demolished to make way for the Wachovia Center. Look at it as something we have to endure in order to get Wachovia.

I found an old newspaper while cleaning out a junk drawer tonight. (In February, 1989, Hampton Roads had over a foot of snow, so my wife saved the February 19 newspaper with the headline about the snow - she did things like that.) The lead story in the "Local News" section was "Councils Track Future of Light Rail". Virginia Beach City Council was to vote on light rail on March 6. Here are some facts from the article: Starting point: Norfolk downtown at Granby and Plume Ending point: Virginia Beach Pavillion Rail length: 17.7 miles Number of stations: 13 Anticipated weekday ridership: 18,700 Initial cost: $102 million Average fare: $1.22 one way Maximum fare: $2.00 one way Operation start-up date: Mid 1990's Light rail has been around for a long time.

If you are going to cross the river anywhere downstream of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, it will have to be in a tunnel. The Navy will not allow bridges to be constructed that could block a navigational channel with one well-placed bomb. That's why we have so many tunnels in Hampton Roads.

I found an old article from October 30, 2005 in the HRT Archives that says the ride is 22 minutes, end to end. http://www.gohrt.com/lrt/HRT_Archive.asp

Hampton Roads Transit has issued its first construction bid package for The Tide. The project is "Viaduct Harbor Park to Norfolk State University". Bids are due October 15. http://www.gohrt.com/aboutus/procurement/

It's not quite as simple as eliminating one LR stop. According to the V-P article, NSU is also objecting to the maintenance shed adjacent to their campus. LR needs someplace to store cars that are not being used, and somewhere to maintain them. Obviously, the maintenance shed has to be adjacent to the LR line. There is not a lot of cheaply available land along the right-of-way for a maintenance shed. The strip of land designated for the maintenance shed belongs to VDOT. It was a "leftover" from the I-264 expansion of a few years ago. If HRT or city council knuckles under to NSU's concerns, it could have a big impact.

If light-rail is a success, the Kirn site will become the hottest piece of real estate in downtown. Developers will be lining up for the rights to build a Class A office building over the light-rail station. It's a huge marketing point to have public transportation right inside your building. There is no need for HRT to develop this site. The market will take care of it.

Has anything happened about this in the past two months. Or did the Mayor just float the idea as a trial balloon?