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Hampton Roads Transportation


vdogg

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The thing with rail tunnels is that one could be built for cheaper than the presently proposed third crossing and have a passenger capacity that is far higher.

New Jersey Transit in cooperation with the Port Authority of NY-NJ is planning a rail tunnel, new station adjacent to Penn Sta., and a rail loop at Secaucus that will cost a total of $5 billion.  Just the tunnel/bridge portion could be built in Hampton Roads for a fraction (less inftrastructure and lower cost down here) and carry 200,000 passengers/day at capacity (based on 2 tracks and 10-car trains on 5 minute headways).  It's just more bang for the buck. 

Yeah it's expensive and takes a long time to construct but the geography of the area provides no easy quick fix.

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I know what your saying but we can't get cities to agree on anything let alone a rail system that will work together and having to put a rail tunnel across. They are still going to build that 564 tunnel crossing, I think mainly for the rigs for the new marine terminal and I think they were planning on adding the rail with it to Newport News when they build the new crossing. Its suppose to be all private financing and VDOT set a dead line of next winter to have the proposal ready for them to review. -_-

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I know what your saying but we can't get cities to agree on anything let alone a rail system that will work together and having to put a rail tunnel across. They are still going to build that 564 tunnel crossing, I think mainly for the rigs for the new marine terminal and I think they were planning on adding the rail with it to Newport News when they build the new crossing. Its suppose to be all private financing and VDOT set a dead line of next winter to have the proposal ready for them to review. -_-

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It would be the smart thing to do if they add rail to the 564 tunnel - something that should have been done with the Big Dig in Boston to connect North and South Stations, but I digress. :) Private funding to build a new HR crossing? Sounds like a really innovative solution. I hope it includes rail service.

Having a direct rail link to Norfolk will help the HR area immensely. The good thing about HR is that it lends itself quite well to being developed in a dense pattern that would be conducive to rail travel, with the area being hemmed in by water (you can't pave over the Atlantic Ocean or the Chesapeake Bay!). It would also justify running additional Amtrak service to HR. I was surprised to find out that only two trains per day in each direction run from Newport News. There should be a lot more than two.

Edited by Mike D
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I like the idea of a rail crossing connecting the peninsula and the southside and the building of a third crossing but with all of this bickering and beef on how to pay for it we would have been almost if not have way there if we could have decided how to finance either project a couple of years ago!

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Rus, I agree that local cooperation is a big obstacle to overcome and is one of the major reasons something like this may never happen. Even if you get local politicians on board, the state & federal political climate is not favorable for any large scale capital investment in transit. Unfortunately the political clout of this region isn't strong enough to overcome such opposition.

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Yeah instead of us working together they(feds) see the bickering between all the localities and give the federal funds to some other area that works together. If VaBeach had joined in on the light rail venture as a team when Norfolk submitted the proposal and made the starter rail longer, we would already been in the building process for the light rail right now...... Newport News has really seriously expressed interest in the light rail but its a little more involved attaching it to Norfolk so it wouldn't have impacted the starter track.

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Yeah instead of us working together they(feds)  see the bickering between all the localities and give the federal funds to some other area that works together. If VaBeach had joined in on the light rail venture as a team when Norfolk submitted the proposal and made the starter rail longer, we would already been in the building process for the light rail right now...... Newport News has really seriously expressed interest in the light rail but its a little more involved attaching it to Norfolk so it wouldn't have impacted the starter track.

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That, too, I think is something that seriously hurts the HR region - the fact that all the localities bicker with each other and refuse to cooperate and work together to bring things there. Your example with VA Beach refusing to cooperate with Norfok on the starter light rail line is the perfect example. At least Newport News expressed real interest in a light rail connection to Norfolk, but yeah, that's going to be a lot more difficult to build because it must cross water to get to Norfolk. Then again VA Beach doesn't like to cooperate with the other localities on much of anything, do they? Maybe if the other localities can learn to work together, they can succeed without VA Beach. Maybe.

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Yeah VaBeach doesn't want to cooperate at all they made a comment that they didn't want the "Norfolk element" coming over to VaBeach so you tell me what that sounds like. VaBeach is the key to get alot of these projects to work. VaBeach has around 500k people there. Norfolk and VaBeach is where most of the traffic is and where they need the relief in the traffic. They are the two biggest cities in the state. It would make alot of sense to connect downtown Norfolk with VaBeach's towncenter. The path is already there and that is the sad thing. It's a old Norfolk and Southern track there. The track runs all the way to Oceana and it could be extended to the Oceanfront. That would be awesome!!!!!

Edited by rusthebuss
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Yeah VaBeach doesn't want to cooperate at all they made a comment that they didn't want the "Norfolk element" coming over to VaBeach so you tell me what that sounds like. VaBeach is the key to get alot of these projects to work. VaBeach has around 500k people there. Norfolk and VaBeach is where most of the traffic is and where they need the relief in the traffic. They are the two biggest cities in the state. It would make alot of sense to connect downtown Norfolk with VaBeach's towncenter. The path is already there and that is the sad thing. It's a old Norfolk and Southern track there. The track runs all the way to Oceana and it could be extended to the Oceanfront. That would be awesome!!!!!

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Chesapeake was also interested in 1999 but I'm not sure if they still are.

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I was thinking about putting this in the VA. Beach development thread or transportation thread but i think it warrants its own thread for now.

Businesses weighing in on I-264 overpass plans

By MARISA TAYLOR, The Virginian-Pilot

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As a homeowner in this area I hope they don't decide option F. It is somewhat scary thinking my home could be in the way of such a massive project. I do realize and see the need for more routes in and out of the this area but like others have said in the article, I am not so sure this is the answer.

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Looking at the area from above, it seems that they could just connect Bonney to Edwin at a slight angle over the freeway without causing too much disruption.

264 really does cut one side of VA Beach off from the other. It would be much better if they could just elevate 264 from Witchduck to Lynnhaven and open up some of the roads under the freeway. Of course that would take about 20 million years and look terrible. If we really lived in a pipe dream, they could put 264 below grade and have roadways going over the top.

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Looking at the area from above, it seems that they could just connect Bonney to Edwin at a slight angle over the freeway without causing too much disruption.

264 really does cut one side of VA Beach off from the other.  It would be much better if they could just elevate 264 from Witchduck to Lynnhaven and open up some of the roads under the freeway.  Of course that would take about 20 million years and look terrible.  If we really lived in a pipe dream, they could put 264 below grade and have roadways going over the top.

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Haha. If you lived in a pipe dream and about 30 feet higher above sea level ;)

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Have anyone heard any more info on how ODU's MagLev Project is turning out since they got $2 million more to try and fix the glitches on the rails or train itself.

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The deadline to have the system up and running is this april so we should be hearing something shortly. I am posting a link to the maglev website and another link that is the latest article about testing beginning to resume.

http://www.odu.edu/af/maglev/files/new%20t...puts%20odu.html

http://www.odu.edu/af/maglev/index.html

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The deadline to have the system up and running is this april so we should be hearing something shortly.  I am posting a link to the maglev website and another link that is the latest article about testing beginning to resume.

http://www.odu.edu/af/maglev/files/new%20t...puts%20odu.html

http://www.odu.edu/af/maglev/index.html

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That deadline is fast approaching. Has anyone seen work actually being done on this thing?

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The deadline to have the system up and running is this april so we should be hearing something shortly.  I am posting a link to the maglev website and another link that is the latest article about testing beginning to resume.

http://www.odu.edu/af/maglev/files/new%20t...puts%20odu.html

http://www.odu.edu/af/maglev/index.html

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Thanks for the info Urbanfan! :)

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If Amsterdam can have a subway anything is possible...  We have some below grade underpasses.  They flood everytime it rains but we've got them. :rofl:

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Haha. I forgot about Amsterdam's subway. It's one line and only underground for about 5,000 feet but it's there. The surface trams they have there are something I'd love to see in Norfolk.

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Haha.  I forgot about Amsterdam's subway.  It's one line and only underground for about 5,000 feet but it's there.  The surface trams they have there are something I'd love to see in Norfolk.

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Seriously that is the same thing that I think as well. Portland, OR has re-implemented its trolley system and it is great. They even have these multi-colored Skoda cars and there is a lot of room on them. DC is doing a trolley line in Anacostia as well. They could do these in Norfolk on the same path as what they have planned for the light rail and mile for mile I know it is A LOT cheaper.

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The interesting theing about DC's Anacostia line is that it will use the Skoda cars, but they will not run in-street. They will run on an abandoned CSX right-of-way in Anacostia. I'm glad DC decided to use the Skoda cars there and not turn that rail line into a busway.

I like the Skoda cars. They're smaller than the huge LRVs that many cities are going after and less expensive. If I'm not mistaken, Portland went with simple trolley wire for the Portland Streetcar to keep costs down, unlike the sophisticated catenary that powers the Tri-Met LRVs - which look like they can take on a 75-foot NYC subway car, :lol: (don't get me wrong, I think light-rail is one of the best things about Portland)

I think the Skoda cars would be a much better fit for Norfolk's planned line. They can also be used to run to other parts of the city.

Edited by Mike D
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