Virginia Beach plan documents new interest in light rail
Written by jrood
The city of Virginia Beach, Va., has released the final draft of its comprehensive plan, which is a blueprint for how the city will grow in the future, Inside Business reports. Included in the plan is a section on light rail and how it could fit into the city's transportation master plan.
Ten years ago, a majority
of Beach voters opposed light rail in a referendum, dooming the public transit
project. Fear of higher taxes was cited as one of the main reasons for opposing
a light rail link with Norfolk. But as construction of The Tide takes place in
Norfolk, the study said, public anticipation has grown and there is interest in
extending the transit system to Virginia Beach and other regional employment
nodes such as Naval Station Norfolk.
Norfolk’s light rail
system will begin operating in 2010. The seven-mile route will connect Fort
Norfolk Plaza on the city’s west side with Sentara Leigh Hospital and Newtown
Road on the east side.
Negotiations are under
way for the city of Virginia Beach to buy Norfolk Southern’s 10.6-mile
right-of-way from Newtown Road to the Oceanfront for $40 million.
During the public
participation process for the comprehensive plan, there was repeated support
for expansion of light rail into Virginia Beach and the Oceanfront, the study
said. Mayors of both Virginia Beach and Norfolk support extending light rail
from Norfolk to Virginia Beach. There is even talk of the city of Virginia
Beach buying a former Circuit City store on Independence Boulevard for a future
station.
But a Beach resident,
Wally Erb, a defense contractor and blogger, has filed papers with the Virginia
Beach Circuit Court to have a referendum on light rail in 2010, according to
The Virginian-Pilot. Erb is listed as a blog editor on the Website of the
Virginia News Source, an online news portal linked to the Virginia Beach
Taxpayer Alliance, an anti-tax group, and the Libertarian party.
