At first meeting, logistics of Beach rail are discussed

By Aaron Applegate
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 10, 2009

VIRGINIA BEACH

It was no town-hall meeting on health care – that’s for sure.

About 100 mostly laid- back residents – and about half as many city officials and consultants – turned out Wednesday night for the first public meeting on a possible light-rail project in Virginia Beach. The meeting was largely about the bureaucratic process for getting a project off the ground, but residents got to meet the people behind the effort.

Hampton Roads Transit is conducting a $5.7 million study to answer the basic question: What kind of mass transit could work in the Beach? The study, due next year, is expected to nail down details on light-rail routes, cost, the number of riders, the location of park-and-ride lots, road closures, the environmental impact and noise. A bus rapid-transit system is also an option. So is extending light rail to Norfolk Naval Station.

The study’s completion would open the door for federal funding, and competition is fierce for those dollars, HRT President Michael Townes told residents. Any project is at least six years away.

Meanwhile, Virginia Beach is expected to soon close a $40 million deal for the old 10.6-mile railroad corridor between Newtown Road and the Oceanfront that could be used to link to Norfolk’s line, which is under construction.

The City Council has not decided whether there will be a referendum. Voters rejected light rail in a nonbinding 1999 referendum that led City Council members to abandon the effort.

Since Wednesday’s meeting at Princess Anne High School was not a public hearing, residents did not speak out in a structured format. But many shared opinions on light rail in interviews. Some were skeptical, some were optimistic.

Damian Seitz, an architect, said he hoped light rail could increase the Beach’s stature as a city and might help it attract a professional sports team.

“It would help put us in a different class of city,” he said.

Bill Pope, a retired Navy commander and president of the King’s Grant community civic league, worried that Norfolk would stand to benefit more than the Beach unless the light rail went to the city’s convention center and to the Oceanfront. As it stands now, the line stops at Birdneck Road.

He also felt that despite the long study process, the decision to pursue light rail had already been made.

“I just feel like we’re playing against a stacked deck,” Pope said.

In the fall, HRT will schedule five workshops on station location and design, officials said.

Some people living close to the line, such as Craig Sneed of the Eureka Park neighborhood, worried that the city might take his property for the project. Still, he said the idea of hopping on a train to Harbor Park in Norfolk is appealing.

Many wondered how people not living near the rail corridor, which splits the city running roughly parallel to Interstate 264, would get to the line.

“How are people in Great Neck and Green Run going to get there?” resident Kevin Baird asked.

Another public meeting will be held tonight at the convention center from 6 to 8 p.m.