Plans for light rail in Virginia Beach, Va., are moving forward
Written by jrood
Plans for light rail in Virginia Beach, Va., are moving forward, local media report. Officials from Hampton Roads Transit joined Virginia Beach City Council to update them on bringing light rail to the resort city. Right now it's looking like any light rail expansion to the beach would include about nine stations. It starts where Norfolk leaves off at Witchduck Rd. and then goes right now the 264 corridor, stopping at Town Center, Lynn Shores, Lynnhaven, Great Neck, Oceana, Birdneck, the Convention Center, and finally stopping down at the Oceanfront on 19th St.
HRT Spokeswoman Jayne
Whitney, says, "We are very fortunate to have that transportation corridor
available so that’s what we are focusing our attention to and it is an
extension of the Tide."
HRT is also looking at
building park and ride lots at six locations that would each hold about 250
parking spots.
Mayor Will Sessoms says he’s
happy with how things are moving along. Now he’s waiting on results from the
environmental studies as well as confirmation on federal dollars.
"I don’t think any project
will move forward without federal and state funding. It is absolutely critical
to be able to do that," Mayor Sessoms says.
Once all that is settled,
the city has other decisions to make, including whether they want to invest in
light rail cars similar to Norfolk’s, or a different style of bus rapid
transit. Before any plans get on track, the public will have a chance to weigh
in, but that might not happen until late 2011 or early 2012.
