PORTSMOUTH
It took Norfolk about 20 years to realize its dream to build light rail.
Now Portsmouth leaders are gazing 100 years into the future, hoping to bring light rail under the Elizabeth River to their city and eventually out to western Tidewater.
This week, city officials launched an aggressive effort to lobby for the expansion of the system through the Midtown Tunnel.
The Virginia Department of Transportation plans to solicit proposals this spring for what a new Midtown Tunnel would look like. Companies that want to participate in the public-private partnership would have 120 days to submit proposals.
Portsmouth leaders want their light-rail plans to be included in the tunnel schemes.
“This is critical,” City Councilman Ray A. Smith Sr. said at a council work session Tuesday night. “I think we need to fight for this.”
To be included in the project, however, Portsmouth leaders plan to quickly get buy-in from legislators and regional neighbors. Portsmouth wants elected officials in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Isle of Wight to adopt a regional resolution supporting light rail through the Midtown Tunnel.
Currently, VDOT’s plans include building a tunnel for two lanes of vehicle traffic that would run parallel to the existing tunnel. They also call for improvements to the Downtown Tunnel and an extension of the Martin Luther King Freeway.
A new Midtown Tunnel is part of a regional transportation plan. It was supposed to be one of six regional projects to be financed by the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority.
The project is still considered financially feasible, despite a February ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down the authority’s power to collect taxes. Local leaders have said the Midtown Tunnel project could be paid for in part by tolls.
“It is time to have a community conversation for what the tunnel should look like,” City Manager Ken Chandler told council members this week.
Norfolk and transit leaders have said they hope to see the light-rail system expand into Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and onto the Peninsula.
A VDOT spokeswoman declined to comment on Portsmouth’s chances of getting light rail included in the Midtown Tunnel project.
James Toscano, vice president for public affairs and communication for Hampton Roads Transit, said, however, that “HRT supports the pursuit of transit in the Midtown Tunnel and other regional water crossings that are on the horizon.”
Portsmouth Councilman Doug Smith said city leaders need to make a lot of phone calls in the next few months. “There’s a lot of jockeying going on with transportation projects right now,” he said.
Portsmouth officials hope that if they can secure support from neighboring jurisdictions, the city could one day become a regional transportation hub.
It’s time to stop waiting, Portsmouth Mayor James Holley said.
“Let them say, 'You don’t have the money.’ Well, who does? This is a plan, and let other generations determine how it gets implemented,” he said.
Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
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For Mr. Greenmun:
Oh, shut up!!! If everyone listened to people like you, we would still be taking the ferry from Willoughby to Hampton. The same argument was made against the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel some 40 years ago. This is a long range plan, a 100 year plan. If you're going to spend money to expand the Midtown tunnel, why doesn't it make sense to make provisions for a light rail crossing as well?
As far as catering to port traffic is concerned, if it wasn't for our ports, we wouldn't have a Hampton Roads. All the area would have would be a third rate beach town, nothing more than a cesspool of neon lights and t-shirt shops.
Get your head out of the sand (or where ever you have it stuck) and try to have a little long range vision.
For Mr. Greenmun:
Oh, shut up!!! If everyone listened to people like you, we would still be taking the ferry from Willoughby to Hampton. The same argument was made against the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel some 40 years ago. This is a long range plan, a 100 year plan. If you're going to spend money to expand the Midtown tunnel, why doesn't it make sense to make provisions for a light rail crossing as well?
As far as catering to port traffic is concerned, if it wasn't for our ports, we wouldn't have a Hampton Roads. All the area would have would be a third rate beach town, nothing more than a cesspool of neon lights and t-shirt shops.
Get your head out of the sand (or where ever you have it stuck) and try to have a little long range vision.
Elsie, you are so right...
I don't hear complaints from Sandbridge residents when millions are spent each year to dump sand on their beaches or build jettys or breakwaters to prevent their homes from washing away! Perhaps one good hurricane would be good for the area! Wash away all the dissent!
Why is it....
...that someone who lives in Sandbridge can be so cavalier about the traffic situation in Portsmouth and the surrounding cities? Oh,yeah...it doesn't affect him! The tunnels are over capacity...whether or not we want to pay for it is irrelevant...it still needsd to be addressed. Further, with a future that includes skyrocketing gas prices and a global demand that is sure to keep them there, a clean, effective public transportation system is crucial!
Dump $4.3B Port 3rd Crossing to pay for it
If Portsmouth wants to spend billions more for low capacity Light Rail, then let's see their political support for removing the state-owned port's $4.3B 3rd Crossing and the $2.1B "new" RT 460 (for port trucks) from the regional list of projects. In addition, how is it that Portsmouth can ignore the MPO process and just change the list of projects now? When will the taxpayers from across all of Hampton Roads be allowed to vote - or express our views on the multi-million, prehaps even billion dollar Light Rail lines that Portsmouth is proposing?
Who will pay tens of millions of dollars for the annual operating costs? We all know the fares collected only cover 30% or so of the operating costs. Does Portsmouth have tens of millions of extra tax money to spend on such things?
How much will Mayor Holly's proposed Light Rail system cost - where will it go, when will it be ready, and most of all how much traffic congestion will it offer?
The General Assembly needs these answers before they can even consider what Mayor Holly is proposing. Taxpayers need these answers too. If they don't have them then taxpayers need to call their representatives in Richmond and tell them there is n