urbanfan

I would agree completely with that. In fact, the ridership estimates that the government makes the transit agency do are very conservative as a rule. In fact, the ridership estimates HRT put out a while back were chopped several times to the miniscule number posted now in the DEIS. That is why all systems are guaranteed to hit the mark.

That is not the official government program for HSR. That is just a team of proffessionals who are lobbying for HSR. The official government HSR has a leg to HR but the question is which one?

They accomplish the overflow by running the trains closer together. The trains will be single trains at first, seeing that we are only ordering 9 trains from the get go and all the trains are never out on the track because inevitibaly you have maintenance on one or two.

That restriction was only for downtown not the rest of the route. Park and rides are expected to have garages at some point. Military Highway was to be one of those however, that has gone away for now.

A study of the expansion of the HRBT is already in progress and has full support from all localities unlike the third crossing. If anything, the HRBT must be expanded first because that is where the bottleneck is. Hampton and other localities will not go along with funding unless it is included in the package.

The third crossing has been put on hold indefinitely until they look at a feasibility of expanding the HRBT. The Intermodal Connector is being done seperately of the third crossing in hopes of building it. It does not signal the start of the third crossing. Midtown is also seperate of the third crossing. It is being designed as a public/private partnership and should be getting the green light by next year.

Unfortunately you are wrong. Demand for the condos did not go through the roof which is why Gaddams could never secure financing. At the height of the mania he could only secure 40% occupancy for the tower. That won't get it done in a collapsing financing market. There was plenty of hype for the building, but that was all on the part of the developer and the newspapers, not by actual prospects or future tenants. Just wasn't enough demand.

The NHRA cannot acquire any land they want. First of all for them to take any land it would have to go through condemnation process in which they will have to offer fair market value for the property they are taking. Secondly, to even get this far they have to prove that the land grab is beneficial to the public which would be hard for them to do on this property considering they would rip down a building which provides meeting spaces and a pool for a hotel. Can't see eminent domain working in this situation considering all that would go right back their would be office buildings or some retail. Hardly any improvement in my opinion. Personally, the city should buy the hotel and level it and build something iconic as a gateway into downtown. But, the 2020 plan is nothing more than a guideline. If it actually had teeth we would have a large NBA sized arena sitting on the WF lot instead of the office tower going up. That didn't happen now did it. It is nothing more than a guideline the government requires every city to do to show that they have some idea of future development and progress. These things are pretty much worthless.

First things first, the 2020 plan is nothing more than a guideline for future construction. It is not a step by step plan of construction for downtown Norfolk. Secondly, DN does not own the hotel property so therefore it cannot redevelop the property the way it wants. Now if you have an article that says that the wings are being removed and designed as you say then fine but if not there is no such article or comment from the hotel owner then there does not need to be a thread for a project that does not exist.

I am pretty sure that it is a penthouse for a local developer who bought the building.

These are just guideline for future developments, not necessarily what will happen. Private property is still private and the city has no real control over that. This is just a guide for future development and zoning guidelines.

Norfolk will be more expensive period. It winds through downtown streets which is twice as expensive as any option. It has two bridges over rivers and one over a rail line and an elevated section over Brambleton along with a myriad of other complications. Virginia beach has a dedicated right of way through the whole project. The most expensive part would be elevating the line over large intersections, which is minimal. Even when it goes through Town Center, the line does not have to be embedded or property taken (such as the library in Norfolk) to go through. There is no doubt that per mile when adjusted for inflation, that VB's line should be much less expensive. If not, I would really have to ask what on earth the people are doing to need that kind of money. Any time you have to embed rail in concrete it is more expensive. Norfolk's is embedded from the harbor park area all the way through downtown. Not to mention the complication with digging in such a historic downtown. Nothing is clearly marked or understood. Their are surprises under every shovel full of dirt.

Probably part of the train tracking down 164 from the New Terminal.

I didn't say single track it through one lane road. Obviously it would entail bying a right of way for the train to run, however, with a single track, the right of way purchase would me significantly less than double tracking it through the area.

What?

Or you can single track it through the area till a little further up Hampton. Were not talking a long distance here.

Just finished looking at the progress presentation HRT submitted to the city and got a glimpse of the future. You can see the presentation here. It is the first line below Construction Updates at the top. They talk about what is being conducted in the studies for the future extensions to the Beach and Navy Base. The route to the Navy Base generally follows I-64 or Military Highway to 564 and possibly over to the third crossing in the future. They are not looking at the extension at this time going from the medical center past ODU and up to the Navy Base. If it does happen it will be in the future.

Not to mention that steel floor to floor heights are 3-4' higher than buildings with concrete construction. This building will have a massive presence in that area and will probably top out in the 130 to 150' range. I think in the end it will be a good looking building, despite the massive parking garage attached to it and will blend in with its surroundings.

No one has decided anything. They just put a hold on the process.

The article said phase I and II will be starting. The schedule originally was to seperate the two phases, but because of the federal stimulus money they have combined the two. The maintenance facility complete with parking garage and bus bays will be built along with the headquarters facility originally slated for Phase II.

The majority of the problem is not the lack of interest to get the thing built. What prevents this from being built quickly is the government red tape. For this to be built they will of course be seeking federal money. Well there is a lot of red tape involved. You have to do the EIS, then the FTA has to sign off on that. If that is a go, then you have to get federal approval to start preliminary design. At which time you also have to do ridership estimates. These get sent to the FTA then the government looks at these and decides whether it looks valid or not. More than likely they come back and say we need the numbers to look a little more realistic, (the government is very conservative with ridership estimates). Then once that's figured out the project goes before the government and it recieves a rating as to whether it is strong, medium, or lightly rated. Only projects that are medium to highly rated get the go ahead to proceed with engineering and final design, and only if they are budgeted for in the governments transportation budget. Then, if you make it through all of that, and believe me I have let out many many other steps that have to be completed before that, you get the go ahead to proceed with construction which in itself will take 2+ years. When you seek government money you have to cut through the red tape, and then you're never guarenteed the money because you are competing with every other metro area that is looking for their piece of the pie. The only way to get this thing built faster is to go it alone and built it with local revenue (taxes, fees, etc.) which will never happen, people can't barely live with the taxes now, not to mention the economy (despite some cheery projections by idiots) will be down for a while. All this to say, this is a normal time frame for a system to be built. People just have to understand that it takes time. If we hadn't of had a referendum in Va. Beach, and the original taxing plan had past we would already have a system finished in place from Downtown to Va. Beach. But, alas, that didn't happen, so norfolk went it alone and slugged through the red tape. Now it's Va. beach's turn.

Just there in February, unless something has changed since now and then.

I believe he was referring to any proposed reworking of Military Circle/Janaf.

Hey, we got a Schlotskey's downtown what more do you want.

That still doesn't explain how you get to ODU or the Naval base. That existing rail corridor is east and west not north and south. The proposed extension has to follow either Hampton or Colley at some point or some other less traveled road.