Second Chance on Roads

The recent decision by the Virginia Supreme Court has given the General Assembly a second opportunity to get it right when it comes to transportation.

This time we must make sure we have both the right projects and the right funding. Right now, I don't believe we do.

In the past few weeks, several new ideas have been presented. There has been a call for a high-rise bridge connecting Hampton to Norfolk and a study of a third tube for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

Let me offer an additional suggestion that should be considered. A container tunnel could be constructed under the Elizabeth River between the Norfolk International Terminal and Craney Island. It would cost a quarter of the $4 billion needed for the Third Crossing.

Moving all containers to Craney Island or even further west would allow us to ban all container trucks from the HRBT and require they use U.S. 460 in and out of the area. This could lead to I-64 being a tourist corridor and U.S. 460 being a freight corridor. Removing these trucks from the HRBT would increase the number of cars that could use the tunnel, and it could negate the need for the very expensive Third Crossing.

These ideas should be seriously studied and evaluated before we make decisions about how best to improve our transportation network.

We have waited 20 years for improvements to our transportation system in Hampton Roads; we can wait a bit longer to ensure we get it right.

Sen. John Miller
Newport News

Published at http://hamptonroads.com/2008/04/second-chance-roads on Apri 23, 2008
Opinion by John Miller who represents the 1st District in the Virginia Senate. The district includes parts of Newport News, Hampton, York County and all of Poquoson. He is a member of the Senate Transportation Committee.