Hampton Roads Transportation

[Former Resident of HR]

Well folks, this could spell the end of the 3rd crossing dream for now...

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story...&ran=179791

I used to be all for the 3rd crossing but the price is absurd ($4billion? you know that will double-triple before the project ends). Now I just see it as a pet project that is overpriced and does not solve the real traffic woes of 64. All of 64 from HRBT to the 264 interchange is always backed up and well as 264 all the way to Lynnhaven or beyond. If we are paying the tolls/taxes and the state doesn't want to pay their share for us basically building an easy street past new ports (from which we gain no $$), then we need to worry about what is best for us as a region.

[rusthebuss]

Well folks, this could spell the end of the 3rd crossing dream for now...

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story...&ran=179791

I used to be all for the 3rd crossing but the price is absurd ($4billion? you know that will double-triple before the project ends). Now I just see it as a pet project that is overpriced and does not solve the real traffic woes of 64. All of 64 from HRBT to the 264 interchange is always backed up and well as 264 all the way to Lynnhaven or beyond. If we are paying the tolls/taxes and the state doesn't want to pay their share for us basically building an easy street past new ports (from which we gain no $$), then we need to worry about what is best for us as a region.

They just need to widen the roads to the HRBT and widen the HRBT. Also, they need to widen the Midtown tunnel and the DT tunnel. This would ease alot of traffic. The third crossing has always been something more for the ports anyways.

Edited August 21, 2006 by rusthebuss

[Telmnstr]

I'm cheering for maglev as well! I'm getting ready to transfer from TCC to ODU in the spring, hopefully! I'm hoping they fix it and it goes around the entire campus! Maybe they can have connectors with the light rail!

I understand it was tied up severely in politics. Basically, American Maglev maintained ownership for a while so ODU couldn't do work. And it is also my understanding that it isn't popular on campus. *Shrug*

[rusthebuss]

I understand it was tied up severely in politics. Basically, American Maglev maintained ownership for a while so ODU couldn't do work. And it is also my understanding that it isn't popular on campus. *Shrug*

I'll support it once I transfer over this spring!

Edited August 22, 2006 by rusthebuss

[vdogg]

I understand it was tied up severely in politics. Basically, American Maglev maintained ownership for a while so ODU couldn't do work. And it is also my understanding that it isn't popular on campus. *Shrug*

Hard to be popular when it's not moving. Once that things operational everyone will use it.

[metalman]

I don't remember if I saw it here, but they did get a Maglev chassis running smoothly on a test track just a few weeks ago! Now, it's time to test it on the real thing.

[rusthebuss]

Summit meeting proposed to discuss Hampton Roads transportation

[vdogg]

Summit meeting proposed to discuss Hampton Roads transportation

I still don't think we will see any progress. Especially after the jokers in Richmond just screwed the Beach on the convention center after promising the money to them.

I am guardedly optimistic about this. It's a step in the right direction. I still think it'll be years before we see any viable solution to our transportation issues though.

[rusthebuss]

I am guardedly optimistic about this. It's a step in the right direction. I still think it'll be years before we see any viable solution to our transportation issues though.

I don't know. We have a bad history of not working with each other. This is one person trying to bring them together. I hope that he can get it work but just because we work together doesn't mean that Richmond will work with us. Look at how they jacked the beach up with promised funds.

[cpeakesqr]

GOP planning Hampton Roads Transportation Authority to help raise money for needed projects.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story...4&ran=23806

[rusthebuss]

Not sure how I feel about this. I have a feeling this will stalemate just like the other proposals. The state needs to do something or its just going to hurt the states pockets since they run the ports.

[cpeakesqr]

The summit meeting now has a date and location... 3-8 pm at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Monday Sept. 11 (tomorrow!!!). It's open to the public but there won't be any public comment.

http://www.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/IA/univers...9082006035809PM

I have class tomorrow until 4-ish. I may attend just so I have something to do while traffic goes down.

[rusthebuss]

Well check in after the meeting please! I wonder what kind of biased article we will get from the pilot on this.

[rusthebuss]

In Norfolk, Beach, idea of intercity cabs floated

Virginia Beach, which has 88 licensed cabs, doesn't let out-of-town cab drivers pick up passengers in the city unless they hold some type of public contract.

A brewing spat over the applications was scuttled Friday when a principal in the two companies said the requests will be withdrawn.

However, the idea the applications raise - that a cab driver could work in both cities - will remain under discussion, said James K. Spore, the Beach's city manager.

[erdogs]

Russ, do you ever sleep!

[rusthebuss]

Russ, do you ever sleep!

Doesn't feel like it dude! I can't believe vabeach won't let cabs pick up people unless they got a contract with the city.

[lammius]

GOP planning Hampton Roads Transportation Authority to help raise money for needed projects.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story...4&ran=23806

This is the type of authority HRPDC (Hampton Roads' MPO) should have. Perhaps this "Hampton Roads Transportation Authority" would replace HRPDC as the area's MPO.

[vdogg]

Is this progress?

A majority of Hampton Roads' General Assembly delegation reached informal agreement Monday night that the proposed third bridge-tunnel to the Peninsula should be built, quieting recent talk that it be dropped in favor of a cheaper set of smaller projects.

Republicans and Democrats also agreed that a regional transportation authority will be needed to manage tolls collected on any new roads and bridges built in the region.

Meeting at the Ted Constant Convocation Center at Old Dominion University, the gathering of about 18 senators and delegates from both parties was a rarity for a region divided about its transportation priorities.

W hile their agreement had the feel of an old issue revisited once again, some welcomed the common ground reached with a show of hands as a minor breakthrough.

[erdogs]

Is this progress?

Its certainly a step in the right direction. Don't hold your breath!

[rusthebuss]

Yeah just a bunch of crap. I want to hear progress not a bunch more meetings. Just more tax payers money for them to meet and meet again to keep going back and forth.

[vdogg]

House leader backs regional authority

House Transportation Chairman Leo Wardrup, R-Virginia Beach, has filed a bill to create a Hampton Roads transportation authority with the power to impose tolls on new and existing roads, bridges and tunnels.

Some of the opinions in these comment sections defy belief.

Seems that this is just a new way for Chris Jones and other politicians to undermind the voice of the people without taking responsibility. If this bill passes the politicians can blame the unwanted tolls on the "authority". Maybe it's time to vote out the politicians like Chris that aren't listening to the voters and keep trying to invoke tolls and lightrail. If our funds were not being constantly wasted with the "studies" of lightrail and tolls, maybe there would be funds for the repair of existing roads and new road projects. Other costly projects that could be done away with is the camera system. If the local media wants a traffic camera system for their news shows, let them pay for it. I am seeing gates being installed at the ramps of the interstates. That's got to be costly and useless. Maybe we could stop that and use the funds for new or existing roads. I think the biggest issue is to get the out of touch politicians out of office no matter what party they belong to.

I really wish people would inform themselves before hurling out the first words that come to mind. The gates being installed at ramps are not useless, they will be used as part of the contra-flow system should (God forbid) we ever have to evacuate our region if a CAT 3 or above hurricane is heading our way. The gates are there to help reverse traffic flow to one way outbound on both sides of the freeway. As for the traffic cameras they are not primarily for media use. They are for incident management, traffic management, and to help spot accidents and dispatch emergency personnel in the quickest and most efficient way possible. This saves lives! I don't know what this guys problem is against lightrail though, but that's for another thread.

[mikeas]

Some of the opinions in these comment sections defy belief.

I really wish people would inform themselves before hurling out the first words that come to mind. The gates being installed at ramps are not useless, they will be used as part of the contra-flow system should (God forbid) we ever have to evacuate our region if a CAT 3 or above hurricane is heading our way. The gates are there to help reverse traffic flow to one way outbound on both sides of the freeway...

The gates are useless! In the event that they are ever used they must be manually lowered and additional blockage and personnel must be brought in.

VDOT's own plan includes:

"As a safety precaution, VDOT will place other devices (barrels and smaller gates) at the top of these ramps so motorists do not try to use those entrances to the eastbound lanes during a closure. "

"VDOT, Virginia State Police and Virginia Army National Guard personnel will be at each of the ramps and at the rest area at Jefferson Avenue. They also will be at the two open rest areas on I-64. VDOT

[vdogg]

The gates are useless! In the event that they are ever used they must be manually lowered and additional blockage and personnel must be brought in.

VDOT's own plan includes:

"As a safety precaution, VDOT will place other devices (barrels and smaller gates) at the top of these ramps so motorists do not try to use those entrances to the eastbound lanes during a closure. "

"VDOT, Virginia State Police and Virginia Army National Guard personnel will be at each of the ramps and at the rest area at Jefferson Avenue. They also will be at the two open rest areas on I-64. VDOT’s Safety Service Patrol will be out in full force during an evacuation and will assist motorists who break down on the interstate."

So why did we install the gates again?

source: http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/comtravel/hur...vac-default.asp

Well, from personal experience, those gates are there as a deterrent, an obvious display that you should not go that way. The reality of it is that they are not a deterence to drunks, morons, or people who just do not want to follow the rules and they are not impervious to destruction. This region has never experienced in modern day the type of destruction a real hurricane can bring (Isabel was simply a warning), but people have Katrina fresh in their mind. If such a major event were to occur I personally do not mind the state employing every effort to ensure the safe evacuation of people from this area, even to the point of redundancy. The police, national guard, and SSP presence i'm sure will be out in force not for things we can predict, but for the things we never saw coming. There is also an obvious traffic management benefit to a visible police presence (Ever been in a severe traffic jam and watched people drive through medians? Ride shoulders?). To address another point you made the gates are manual currently but that will not always be the case from my understanding as I believe there are plans to eventually put them in the system. It seems to be the case throughout history that the first people decrying such extra safety precautions as police presence during a hurricane evacuation before a disaster, are the first ones asking for heads to roll after a disaster, when the resources suddenly deemed necessary were not availiable.

[rusthebuss]

Tolls inch closer to green light with House speaker's support

[NcSc74]

House leader backs regional authority

Some of the opinions in these comment sections defy belief.

I really wish people would inform themselves before hurling out the first words that come to mind. The gates being installed at ramps are not useless, they will be used as part of the contra-flow system should (God forbid) we ever have to evacuate our region if a CAT 3 or above hurricane is heading our way. The gates are there to help reverse traffic flow to one way outbound on both sides of the freeway. As for the traffic cameras they are not primarily for media use. They are for incident management, traffic management, and to help spot accidents and dispatch emergency personnel in the quickest and most efficient way possible. This saves lives! I don't know what this guys problem is against lightrail though, but that's for another thread.

I've been lurking here and posting a few times just to see how much progress has been made on the light-rail issue. I see and hear more against than for and that is unfortunate. What is wrong with America when gas prices are going to stay at or above what they are now and all people want is more roads to more houses farther out from the city. Vdogg I don't get it. Even here in Vegas the "suburban assassins" shot down a proposed light rail/heavy rail system for fear of giving "undesirables" the freedom to transit around the city. All the while smog and chocked streets are making commute times horrific. I hope Norfolk can power though this then maybe TTA(Triangle Transit Authority) will get the hint move forward on their proposal.