Norfolk Light Rail and Transit

[mlsimons]

From the article:

"Fred Schneader, HRT's senior vice president for construction, said the agency was not aware of the extent of hazardous materials in the buildings to be demolished and its mitigation and disposal is mainly to blame for driving up the cost."

That makes no sense of me. So they just arbitrarily agreed to demolition without doing any form of interior inspection and now when we are months away from demolition decided to take a look...? How about HRT covers all of the cost and not the tax payers. I am completely for development and I LOVE light rail, but this is not right. Why shouldn't they pay for their bad management?

On an off note, this may not be the right place for this, but is anyone else underwhelmed by the proposed station that is so highly touted to replace the library?

As far as being underwhelmed...well yes but. The reason why its just open space for now is because the plan is to build a midrise above the station. There's a rendering somewhere floating around. Something like a 12-15 story office tower with light rail going right over top!!! The rendering looked pretty cool

[mistermetaj]

As far as being underwhelmed...well yes but. The reason why its just open space for now is because the plan is to build a midrise above the station. There's a rendering somewhere floating around. Something like a 12-15 story office tower with light rail going right over top!!! The rendering looked pretty cool

Yeah, I know of the rendering you're talking about, it was supposed to be the HRT headquarters. I don't necessarily like that building at all actually and I agree it should be some sort of open space, but the rendering they give for what they want to be like the seattle market and what not are just not doing it for me.

[willy]

Norfolk should release all of the development projects that are in the planning stages to counter all the negative press the pilot is reporting. Give some figures of additional money that will be funneled into the city because of the LRT. They should do this every time they get a bite from a developer that is even thinking about building because of the rail line.

[cpeakesqr]

Yeah, I know of the rendering you're talking about, it was supposed to be the HRT headquarters. I don't necessarily like that building at all actually and I agree it should be some sort of open space, but the rendering they give for what they want to be like the seattle market and what not are just not doing it for me.

None of the stations do anything for me. Norfolk doesn't look like the MacCarthur Memorial or the old city hall. It kinda seems like it will be a theme ride, instead of a fresh new means of transportation.

[rusthebuss]

I think that HRT headquarters idea was dumped a while back

[urbanlife]

Would be nice to see the city do something like this for the MacArthur stop, this is a streetcar stop in Portland that runs through a block at the Portland State University. I live a few blocks away from this area. It is an amazing plaza to be in.

Of course, to keep in context of things, this plaza sits on one of Portland's 200ftx200ft blocks, I dont think the stop in Norfolk, the block is that big, but still something like this could happen there.

Edited December 12, 2008 by urbanlife

[mlsimons]

Portland is sooooooo ahead of the game. A true modal midsize city for mass transit. This is the idea I think about when reading all the negative comments on virginian-pilot. This is the picture that the naysayers cannot seem to imagine. NSU could one day look like this, ODU as well... they have the maglev track running directly through campus, it would be great to see LRT use that right of way to make something great happen.

[vtfan18]

Here is a brief iReport from CNN about Phoenix's new metro light rail. It mentions that thousands of people waited in line over 2 hours to ride the system on opening day. I just wish our community was so receptive. I don't hear the pilot writing much about the success of other rail systems. Its all about how much it costs and much the City has gone over budget. Any sensible person knew this project would be over budget but you gotta be able to look down the road 5 or 10 years from now so fully understand how beneficial this will be to the region.

Phoenix Upgraded! New METRO Light Rail Opens

Edited December 30, 2008 by vtfan18

[varider]

I was reading an article in the pilot and somebody posted a comment saying they made their own version of light rail in hampton roads..

i found it quite interesting and extremely ambitious..

what do you guys think?

http://tinyurl.com/3be8sv

[CaveMaN]

I was reading an article in the pilot and somebody posted a comment saying they made their own version of light rail in hampton roads..

i found it quite interesting and extremely ambitious..

what do you guys think?

http://tinyurl.com/3be8sv

Not attempting to be a complete negative poster but, I'm not sure they can really claim to have "made" their own version, since they really just said, I want stations at these obvious human gathering points, and...connect the dots...

A large number of the sections shown have no feasible way of being implemented. For instance, the Regent - Sentara Leight spur, it would go through several large residential neighborhood, require a new bridge over the elizabeth & surrounding wetlands, and probably also require overpasses at providence, and indian river...

I like the idea of keeping the rail mainly along the 264 corridor and in the DT area itself, since it will create another large attraction to living within the downtown area. It seems to me what Norfolk really needs to continue growing into a larger & more dense urban core for the area, is simply a larger downtown population, and this would be another step towards that. If lines extend outward in all directions as shown in this 'plan', it'll just make suburbia that much more attractive, since sitting in commuting traffic is one of, if not the main downfall to living out from the central core of a metro area.

I think Norfolk did the best it could with the land it has to work with, and with it's alotted (although increasing) project budget for the 7 mile starter line. Looking forward to the day I can walk out my front door onto the Tide!

[mlsimons]

I was reading an article in the pilot and somebody posted a comment saying they made their own version of light rail in hampton roads..

i found it quite interesting and extremely ambitious..

what do you guys think?

http://tinyurl.com/3be8sv

Yeah, I'm sorry but this is just too unrealistic. I too have a huge Southside map on my wall with potential lightrail mapped out. Except I must say that I look up every route extensively to see the obstacles along the way and room for growth/improvement.

For instance...we might think "well we should connect light rail to ODU" we'll in order to do this we have to route it somehow there. Hampton Blvd is too tight and congested, so in order to do this we may possibly go around the backside of West Ghent, but we will be missing a lot of "key potential stops" due to the density around Hampton/Colley. So even this might be a bad idea. Routing down Lynnhaven in my opinion would be bad due to low residential density down most of Lynnhaven (and little room for the line), I would choose rather to route down S. Independence, with lots of room to expand the road or put light rail in the median plus loads more residential density. Also their is a beautiful route to the airport along one of the closed Norfolk/Southern lines (visible on the map) which would make much more sense. You must consider already established "right-of-ways"

This map seems really unresearched, however if at first you don't succeed, please take a second looks and try again.

[burt]

mlsimons, back in the 1970's when Amtrak ran its last trains into Norfolk it seems to me it entered the city from Chesapeke around what is now Harbor Park and terminated at a station near Hampton Boulevard. I'm not that familiar with Norfolk, but does that line still exist and could it be utilized for connection to the Naval base and/or ODU?

[Norfolk4Life]

I am currently putting together a map of not only the current light rail route but the alternatives that have been studied for an extension to the Naval Base. This map also includes all planned road projects from VDOT and each Southside city's Master Transportation Plans. Next, I will add potential routes into Portsmouth and Chesapeake as proposed by TRT back in 1999. I am drawing it up in Google Earth. I hope to finish it fairly soon. I should be able to post it here later.

http://www.757hamptonroads.blogspot.com

[mlsimons]

How will LRT fit on W.Bute st between Boush and Duke. My only guess is that the street will be converted to one way...also is the old Gilbert eyecare building going to be demolished to make room for LRT turning from York st to Bute?

The next year is going to be so exciting for downtown... I plan to tell my children about these years of transformation...haha corney!!!

[Telmnstr]

I live right next to where one of the stations is going (I don't anticipate on riding it though). Pilot announced that for safety reasons another 7 million has to be spent on signal crossings. Does this mean I get to hear a railroad crossing bell every 22 minutes all night long?

[Norfolk4Life]

you must live in Ingleside. I think thats the most interesting station of them all. It seem that the city just wanted to try out a walk-up station but completely disregarded what anyone thought of it.

On the other hand, if you or you neighbors happen to have any extra rooms or decide to move, Id love to rent something there when it is completed. In fact, there was a house a few streets back that I was looking at.

[CaveMaN]

I live right next to where one of the stations is going (I don't anticipate on riding it though). Pilot announced that for safety reasons another 7 million has to be spent on signal crossings. Does this mean I get to hear a railroad crossing bell every 22 minutes all night long?

Off the HRT Tide side:

• Hours of Operation
  • 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (Monday - Thursday)
    
  • 6:00 a.m. - midnight (Friday - Saturday)
    
  • 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Sunday)
    
  • 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Holidays)
    

  

Looks like you'll get a 6 hour break at minumum from the bells

[Norfolk4Life]

perhaps they can silence the bells after dark. the lights should work well enough for warning.

[varider]

I looked at the wikipedia article on the light rail system in Charlotte and i found it odd that they have around 5 proposed extenstions of their current line serving all the surrounding suburbs some 25-30 miles away. People say it cant happen in hampton roads.. Im wondering why not?

[urbanlife]

I looked at the wikipedia article on the light rail system in Charlotte and i found it odd that they have around 5 proposed extenstions of their current line serving all the surrounding suburbs some 25-30 miles away. People say it cant happen in hampton roads.. Im wondering why not?

Its not that it cant, it is that it is a long way away from that. Currently Hampton Roads is where every region starts out, running light rail along the highway because a highway was put in for a reason, thus making it the most logical choice. Once the main line is up and running, then there will start to pour in for proposals for extensions to that line and possibly new lines running to new parts of the region. I think what people were making reference to way you made was the fact that it would be pointless to run a line to Surrey and such places...the biggest stretch for a light rail line would be Suffolk and I could see a line running to the very north end of Suffolk before downtown Suffolk. Just pointing out a reality.

The second line that happens (figuring that the line in construction is eventually sent to NOB and the oceanfront) will head towards the airport. After that there will be a line that is run towards Chesapeake and possibly one that runs to the peninsula (but that line will be costly because it would require a new bridge tunnel). Probably along this line a few streetcar lines would happen, one at the oceanfront (because there should be one there now to shuttle stupid tourists around and make more money off of them), the town center to help connect surrounding areas together be public transportation, and probably a couple other locations. Though keep in mind that all of this would be on a 50 year plan, so I will probably be close to death by the time this is all up in running.

I cant remember the map, but I thought the line was running up the far west end past Hampton Blvd because it was too tight near Sentara? Though a raised line might of worked as well...though that would of been really costly.

[mistermetaj]

Its not that it cant, it is that it is a long way away from that. Currently Hampton Roads is where every region starts out, running light rail along the highway because a highway was put in for a reason, thus making it the most logical choice. Once the main line is up and running, then there will start to pour in for proposals for extensions to that line and possibly new lines running to new parts of the region. I think what people were making reference to way you made was the fact that it would be pointless to run a line to Surrey and such places...the biggest stretch for a light rail line would be Suffolk and I could see a line running to the very north end of Suffolk before downtown Suffolk. Just pointing out a reality.

The second line that happens (figuring that the line in construction is eventually sent to NOB and the oceanfront) will head towards the airport. After that there will be a line that is run towards Chesapeake and possibly one that runs to the peninsula (but that line will be costly because it would require a new bridge tunnel). Probably along this line a few streetcar lines would happen, one at the oceanfront (because there should be one there now to shuttle stupid tourists around and make more money off of them), the town center to help connect surrounding areas together be public transportation, and probably a couple other locations. Though keep in mind that all of this would be on a 50 year plan, so I will probably be close to death by the time this is all up in running.

I cant remember the map, but I thought the line was running up the far west end past Hampton Blvd because it was too tight near Sentara? Though a raised line might of worked as well...though that would of been really costly.

Wasn't the NS railway there before the Va Beach/Norfolk Express Way(I-264)?

Anyway, I don't know much about Charlotte, but I know they are mostly inland, so they also don't have to contend with all the water crossings that this area will have to face when they want to become a regional system. That is where the cost is really going to skyrocket.

The one thing this area has going or at least the one benefit to having so many separate cities is that each city can maybe one day build their own lines if it's cost effective and strictly ban together for the connections in the end. I know Newport News is in the preliminary planning stage as if Va Beach for their own lines. I'm sure once those are up, chesapeake and Hampton will be sure to follow suit.

[Norfolk4Life]

currently, the next line is already in planning. It will run from the current line up to NOB. Although the planning will determine the route, it would most likely run by Military Circle and the Airport and then follow I64 to the base with stops at places like wards corner. Also, when the VB portion is built, we will be able to suck tourists of more money. They can arrive by plane and then, b/c they can use the LRT to get to their hotel and the beach, they wont have to rent a car, thus forcing them to ride the LRT for their whole visit.

[mistermetaj]

currently, the next line is already in planning. It will run from the current line up to NOB. Although the planning will determine the route, it would most likely run by Military Circle and the Airport and then follow I64 to the base with stops at places like wards corner. Also, when the VB portion is built, we will be able to suck tourists of more money. They can arrive by plane and then, b/c they can use the LRT to get to their hotel and the beach, they wont have to rent a car, thus forcing them to ride the LRT for their whole visit.

All of this is contingent on the starter line being moderately successful. Va Beach especially is going to see if it is worth the investment or not. Though, with all the new infrastructure spending promised in the near future, it may alleviate the cost and alleviate the stress of going through with building a line.

[spiker3]

currently, the next line is already in planning. It will run from the current line up to NOB. Although the planning will determine the route, it would most likely run by Military Circle and the Airport and then follow I64 to the base with stops at places like wards corner. Also, when the VB portion is built, we will be able to suck tourists of more money. They can arrive by plane and then, b/c they can use the LRT to get to their hotel and the beach, they wont have to rent a car, thus forcing them to ride the LRT for their whole visit.

Where did you hear that? Fraim said in November they forecast the line continuing past EVMS and Norfolk General around Lambert's Point, then back around to Hampton Blvd near 35 - 38th St, then up Hampton Blvd to NOB, including Ghent, ODU, and the Naval Base in the second spur of the line.

[varider]

currently, the next line is already in planning. It will run from the current line up to NOB. Although the planning will determine the route, it would most likely run by Military Circle and the Airport and then follow I64 to the base with stops at places like wards corner. Also, when the VB portion is built, we will be able to suck tourists of more money. They can arrive by plane and then, b/c they can use the LRT to get to their hotel and the beach, they wont have to rent a car, thus forcing them to ride the LRT for their whole visit.

Where did you here about this??