Some want light rail to stop in Hilltop

By: Ava Hurdle; WAVY.com

5/30/12

Several city planners are entertaining an idea to bring a light rail stop to the Hilltop area of Virginia Beach.

The end of the line for light rail is Newtown Road in Norfolk, which is also next to the Virginia Beach city line.  WAVY.com talked with passengers about a plan to extend the proposed Virginia Beach light rail to Hilltop.

Quenton Foreman told WAVY.com “It’s a very good thing to have besides all this traffic. It gets you where you have to go, nonstop, stops in between, but it gets you where you have to go. We definitely need it. City Council needs to get on board.”

Already, Councilman John Uhrin is on track. “It’s a traffic driver. Its a destination point along the light rail alignment so that’s the big thing about making transit work. There has to be stops along the way people would go to. That would be a great one.”

But Robert Dean is opposed to the plan. He said, “No one has estimated the cost of taking this to Hilltop on the condemnation or all the other issues that are involved.”

Details are still being worked out on this plan and at some point the public will get a chance to comment on this and other stops for the proposed light rail line.

A referendum on Virginia Beach light rail is on the November ballot.