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Virginia Beach Light Rail and Transit


vdogg

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Hey guys I believe HRT will award the contract for the EIS and Alternatives Analysis for the extension of the starter line to the Oceanfront on Thursday, April 23rd. This will take approx. 12-18 months to complete. && that point we will know exact station locations, ridership estimates, cost estimates, & the exact route the train will take.

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I really can't see the city letting the old, rural minded, auto oriented naysayers shoot down the most important decision most likely ever to be made in Virginia Beach. If he absolutely has to hold a referendum they absolutely have to put up signs all over the city, hold press conferences, get on the news, hold multiple town hall meetings, do whatever they can so the citizens are informed. at that point I think their will be more yes than no votes.

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the city has a better chance of it passing on a november ballot than a may ballot...only NIMBYs vote in may.

Uh...Virginia Beach doesn't vote in May anymore. :stop:

The votes are there on City Council to block any attempt on Council to put it to referendum. In addition, the only realistic chance the VBTA has of petitioning a question onto the ballot is in 2012. That's the Obama relection ballot. Think the Obamaniacs would vote "No"? :rofl:

The VBTA is cornered, and intel says they're slowly catching on.

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Ok, I'll compromise...how bout wait til this summer when gas is back up to $4.50/gallon and then we can do the vote. Would anyone have a problem with that?

Oh wait, It would have to be a vote by mail ballot, cause no one will be able to afford to drive to the polls.

Edited by mlsimons
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http://hamptonroads.com/2009/04/hrt-will-s...route-navy-base

guys they are moving along at a great speed. in 12-16 months when the exact stops have been announced do yall think TOD's will come out of the wordwork in all the SGA's? the economy should be on the rebound, the lending freeze should be over, I think it's setting up for something big to happen from newtown road all the way to the oceanfront. along the lines of NoVa TOD

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My response to the Pilot naysayers:

"This issue is frankly to big for most to comprehend. Being a student of urban economics urban/regional planning, I will tell you that most of the complaints I'm reading are completely out of bounds from what light rail is intended. Its not meant to fix current traffic congestion. But to guide growth along a designated route. As the population rises, one day it will be nearly impossible to travel on any interstate during the day. This issue ultimately comes down to preventing future sprawl and future urban decay...in addition prevent future traffic congestion. The TOD is part of it too, for it will shift the tax burden away from the residential tax base, which is something all fiscal conservatives should like, although they cannot maybe see that right now. Every urban planning class I've taken promotes the light rail project. The teachers/students alike."

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I would love to see a massive redevelopment of the Newtown area.

I will say this, Hampton Roads might be at a disadvantage with all the independent cities competing, but it definitely is a good region because of its land size to have these urban centers all throughout the region connected by rail.

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  • 3 weeks later...

City Council on Tuesday night approved a $1.9 billion budget that relies heavily on tapping savings but avoids a tax rate hike, employee furloughs and layoffs. To balance the 2009- 10 budget, the city will use $45 million in "rainy day" funds from multiple sources including agricultural preservation, schools, major projects and health insurance.

City officials have described tapping those funds as a one-time strategy that won't work next year if the economy fails to improve.

City employees are not getting raises.

The council voted 10-1 to approve the budget. Councilman Bill DeSteph voted against it.

The spending plan includes $10 million to buy the 10.6-mile Norfolk Southern corridor for a possible light-rail project.

It also contains the bulk of the $28.4 million to develop Laskin Road and 31st Street as a gateway to the Oceanfront, a project that's become a top city priority.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/05/beach-avoi...-taking-savings

So it has been paid for!

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http://hamptonroads.com/2009/05/hrt-presid...ight-rail-study

VIRGINIA BEACH

Hampton Roads Transit President Michael Townes will brief the City Council today on a $5.7 million feasibility and environmental study that will investigate bringing light rail to Virginia Beach and the Norfolk Naval Station.

The meeting is at 4 p.m. at City Hall.

The study is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

The City Council has decided to spend $10 million to buy the old Norfolk Southern rail corridor for a possible light rail route.

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http://hamptonroads.com/2009/05/bits-and-p...s-forward-beach

VIRGINIA BEACH

The first signs of a light-rail project are coming this summer.

From traffic-counting tubes, to biologists tramping through wetlands, to newsletters, residents will see the start of the $1.5 million study to evaluate extending light rail to the Beach from Norfolk.

Project boosters say they will start shaping their messages to build support for the mass-transit project that was vetoed by voters 56 percent to 44 percent in a referendum 10 years ago.

"I'm going to do everything I can do to move light rail forward. I believe in that strongly," Mayor Will Sessoms said. "It will be a project supported by a majority of the citizens of Virginia Beach."

The study is the first step in a project that's at least six years away and is expected to answer questions about the route, cost, number of expected users, location of park-and-ride lots, possible road closures, environmental impacts and noise.

The city is also forming a citizen advisory committee to research the project. The group will start meeting this summer. The first public hearings on light rail will be in July.

"If light rail does happen, and we're smart, we will make those plans ahead of it," City Councilman John Uhrin said. "It would be silly to go forward and not take the SGAs into account."

Largely, the study is about gathering information, which takes time, planners said.

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I am quite pleased with Va Beach's recent Pembroke Area Implementation Plan... I hope they will keep that fully in mind as they conduct this new study.

One station near the vicinity of the I-264 Independence Blvd exit should be developed as a Transit Center: offering plentiful Park-and-Ride spaces in a multi-level parking facility (with preferably ground floor retail), as well as move the HRT bus hub at Pembroke Mall to this new location. A redesign of the I-264 Independence Blvd interchange is due anyway, and this Transit Center could capture drivers from eastern Va Beach, and both North and South along Independence Blvd (and Holland Rd), while simultaneously serve as the primary station for Town Center.

The right-of-way of the Tide Extension is nearly perfect if some smart planning is done: it's right between Va Beach Blvd and I-264, if sufficient redevelopment initiatives are put in place in the vicinity of planned stations, Virginia Beach can create a really strong multi-modal transportation corridor along its east-west spine.

I am hoping, though, that the line will deviate from the Norfolk Southern alignment east of London Bridge Road. Serving AICUZ-incompatible land around Oceana would be a mistake, even if the line offers a tempting straight shot to the beach. The line could, east of London Bridge Road, could travel in the median of Laskin Rd, which could finally lose its confusing service lanes. After properly serving the Hilltop Commercial Area, just east of Winwood Rd the line can travel in the median of I-264 to Birdneck Rd, then serve the Convention Center and travel to the Oceanfront on 19th Street.

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Blurb off "Avenging Archangel" blog that I check every once in a while..

There was quite a bit on Virginia Beach light rail yesterday:

1. 2 of the 3 main figures involved in the AA/DEIS were present.

2. The project's website is slated to be up in about a week.

3. Tentatively two Scoping public meetings are planned. One would be at Princess Anne High School, the other at the convention center. These meetings will be the public's chance to be heard prior to the study process beginning.

4. The project process from now until the Final Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) is signed is expected to take at least 4 years, maybe slightly longer.

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If you have not heard about it yet, I have created a petition in support of bringing Light Rail to Virginia Beach. Please sign it and forward a copy of the link to all of your friends and family. Put a link on your blog/facebook/twitter/myspace etc. Add a link to your signature on here and/or your email or other forum signatures. Here's the link: http://www.petitiononline.com/LRT2VB/petition.html

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Editorial in the Pilot today talking about the expansion of light rail to the oceanfront.. Few key notes:

  • one lady said she visited phoenix and overall liked the light rail system there, but she also stated "virginia beach is not phoenix. we don't have skyscrapers, nba arenas, or the population of phoenix"

  • another person was saying that virginia beach is getting the raw end of the deal because it doesn't go to lynnhaven, the aquarium, ect. but it goes to macarthur, nauticus, and all of norfolk's tourist attractions. downtown has more crime than the beach, and basically all of the black people will infiltrate the city like we're some sort of cancer.

People are seeing the small picture when it comes to LRT.. They don't see the vision that we on this forum do. They are thinking that it is just a way of transportation, that will be slow at best.. The train will go to the majority of the Beach's SGA's and will allow Downtown Va Beach to explode with mixed- use developments. I can't wait. Forget the naysayers.

Edited by varider
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Editorial in the Pilot today talking about the expansion of light rail to the oceanfront.. Few key notes:

  • one lady said she visited phoenix and overall liked the light rail system there, but she also stated "virginia beach is not phoenix. we don't have skyscrapers, nba arenas, or the population of phoenix"

  • another person was saying that virginia beach is getting the raw end of the deal because it doesn't go to lynnhaven, the aquarium, ect. but it goes to macarthur, nauticus, and all of norfolk's tourist attractions. downtown has more crime than the beach, and basically all of the black people will infiltrate the city like we're some sort of cancer.

People are seeing the small picture when it comes to LRT.. They don't see the vision that we on this forum do. They are thinking that it is just a way of transportation, that will be slow at best.. The train will go to the majority of the Beach's SGA's and will allow Downtown Va Beach to explode with mixed- use developments. I can't wait. Forget the naysayers.

Well if I remember correctly, the same generic naysaying was said about the town center, and now most of those same people are waiting in line at the Cheesecake Factory saying how posh and stylish their new downtown is. So light rail doesnt go to Lynnhaven, but it does go near Pembroke, and that mall will turn into a posh, stylish urban mall in the near future. And if a streetcar loop is built along the beach, which it should of been done years ago, that could easily stop off at the aquarium, thus connecting light rail to the aquarium via streetcar. Oh and apparently that person also forgot to include the beach on the list of attractions. Which it would be much easier to hit up a park and ride at Lynnhaven or something and ride the train to the beach, than to deal with traffic and parking.

Phoenix isnt much to brag about...sure it has a bigger downtown, but it is the only big city in Arizona. But with that said, most of Phoenix is nothing more than one big suburb...so if Phoenix can do it, I dont see why VB couldnt.

There are alot of short sighted people in VB, they just need the ones in charge of making the decisions to be able to see the long term effects of such things.

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  • 1 month later...

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/beach-auth...-lightrail-stop

The Virginia Beach Development Authority will vote Tuesday on spending $5 million to acquire the vacant Circuit City property near Town Center for a potential light rail station.

Beach officials first expressed interest in the property in April, soon after the electronics store went out of business.

The 3.74-acre site sits next to the Norfolk Southern right of way, which is the possible light-rail route. The city is in final negotiations to buy the right of way for $40 million, although the City Council hasn’t voted on whether to extend the light rail line from Norfolk to Virginia Beach.

The property is critical for a potential light rail stop and for the future expansion of Town Center, said Mayor Will Sessoms.

If the development authority agrees to the purchase of the Circuit City property, the issue would then go to City Council in August for final approval.

Can you guys feel the momentum building behind our regional transit system? I am willing to bet the city is going to entice a developer to build a massive TOD with a multi modal transfer center.. Once LRT is officially announced, TOD's will be built from Newtown Rd all the way to the Oceanfront. Development will cross the Boulevard and Pembroke Mall will be turned into an urban shopping venture, cross Independence to the HQ lot and old FX building, cross over to the FYE and Barnes and Noble lot, The K-Mart lot, It will be amazing. The economy should be on the upswing, consumer spending should be up, I'm willing to put my neck out there and say the whole transit line will be surrounded by dense developments from retail/ office/ and residential.The powerhouse on a 20 mile transit line of downtown Norfolk, the heart of Virginia Beach, and the Oceanfront will be one to be reckoned with.

Edited by varider
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