Shore Drive Community Coalition

Two ramps connecting I-264 with London Bridge Road will be built over the next two years

From Pilotonline.com:

The exit ramp will end at London Bridge Road, and motorists can turn right toward Oceana Naval Air Station or left to Great Neck Road. The on-ramp takes motorists under the interstate roughly parallel to existing railroad tracks before looping onto I-264.

Coastal Action Storm Plan Emergency Response, CASPER

Dave has shared his report, CASPER,, produced by his company Safety Net Consulting.

He felt it was important to share the 24 page report since Earl was on its way.

Download 24 page PDF.

An excerpt:

The material presented in this document reflects multiple accredited sources and the accumulated best practices of those involved in emergency planning and disaster recovery. Your timely planning is critical for a successful outcome. Many emergency agencies have found that only 10-15% of those who live in areas affected by coastal storms will have a plan and prepare before a potential disaster. Timely planning is critical to the safety of your family. Any person using this document must use reasonable common sense and prudent judgment to prevent personal injury and limit property loss.

Questions? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Latest about Earl at NOAA.

Traffic Engineers Need Your Help

SDCC has received the following email from Mike Shahsiah of the VB Traffic Engineering Division:

Operations of the pedestrian warning signs with flashing lights (between Kendall St to Lesner Bridge) have been extended to start flashing at 12:00 noon until 2:30 a.m. every day. 

I need your assistance to provide feedback on the operations of these lights.  If you happen to drive this section of Shore drive after 12:00 noon, please look for these lights and send me an email at your convenience & let me know if they were working as programmed.
Thanks a lot.
Mike

Please address your comments to:
Mike Shahsiah, P.E.
Senior Traffic Engineer

mshahsia@vbgov.com

Help us do pedestrian counts to improve safety on Shore Drive

Link to Spreadsheet with times available here.

From Mary Lynn:

Some members of Shore Drive Community Coalition and Save Lives On Shore Drive are working alongside Va. Beach Traffic Engineer’s gathering information on where and what improvements are needed (like crosswalks and brighter street lights) for a safer Shore Drive based on surveys and tests (like how much light is coming out of the street lights and do we need brighter ones) but first we need the results of this survey and we need your help.

PLEASE! We need volunteers to help count PEDESTRIANS & BICYCLISTS crossing Shore Drive even if you only can give an hour we need your help please on:

THIS COMING FRIDAY, 7/30/10 and SATURDAY, 7/31/10 we need help for the following shifts: 10 am –12 noon, 1 pm -3 pm, 5 pm –7 pm.  The 11 pm-2 am shifts are covered.

PLEASE VOLUNTEER SOME OF YOUR TIME!  Consider a block of time 1 hour; we really need your help to cover time this Friday and/or Saturday so please sign up!!!

Please call Mary Lynn Brown at 613-7030 or e-mail your name, phone # and preferred time(s) to marylynnb1@cox.net so schedule can be confirmed with volunteers.

Volunteers will help document results on a survey form to count pedestrians and bicyclists that cross Shore Drive this Friday and Saturday. We have been asked to do this survey to get true pedestrian counts for the traffic engineer’s so they know where to put in the new crosswalks so they would best be serving the public’s safety crossing Shore Drive.

The 2 day survey will be conducted at the intersection(s) with Shore Drive at:

  1. Red Tide Rd. (To cover pedestrians/cyclists from Ebb Tide Rd. to Starfish Rd).
  2. Jade St. (To cover pedestrians from the west side of Starfish Rd to CP Shuckers).

Again, each block of time is 1 hour; we need your help so please sign up!!!

  1. I will meet each shift person that starts that shift to provide that days form (s) for the survey.
  2. You need these forms to keep count and they need to be turned over at the end of your shift (I will come pick them up from you at the end of your shift).
  3. I live a couple blocks away and can always be called if there are any problems. 613-7030.
  4. I have the 11:00 pm to 2:00 am Friday and Saturday shifts covered already for the pedestrian & bicyclists count survey.

Special note:  If you want to sit in your air conditioned vehicle that is fine as long as you have a full view of the area you are responsible for observing and documenting.

Many thanks!

Mary Lynn Brown

Please call or e-mail Mary Lynn Brown right now at 613-7030 or marylynnb1@cox.net and sign up!!!

“By the end of the meeting, Wells Fargo agreed to sell the property for $13 million”

Read and comment on article at Pilotonline.com:

On the other hand, if Wells Fargo held out for more money and sold to another developer, environmental permits would be needed before construction could begin and homebuyers would have to return to the market.

Are you coming out for Share Shore Drive Day ?

Cycling info at ShareShoreDriveDay.net.

Come out and join the Circle in The Bridge from CHKD at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility at 10am to walk.

Shore Drive Corridor Improvements - Phase IV, Ocean Park - Official Page

Here’s the Public Works Capital Projects Detail Sheet Official link to 2.118.000: Shore Drive Corridor Improvements - Phase IV.

Current Estimates
Start: 06/24/2010 End: 09/16/2015 Cost: 12,758,721

More Tips:
You can look up any CIP project by the following steps:
http://www.vbgov.com
Select “Online Services” (on the left side)
Select “View a Capital Project Status”
Select “CIP Project Status”
This takes you to the CIP Search Page (http://198.252.244.2/cipstatus/Search.aspx)
You can search by full name, partial name (ex. Shore) or CIP#

Thanks to David Jarman for the info.

Capital Improvement Projects, CIP, refresher

In case you’re keeping track, here’s the numbers you want to follow improvements for Shore Drive:

CIP Project Updates:

·      Shore Drive Interim Safety Improvements (2-731):  Slideshow attached summarizing work completed to date

·      Shore Drive Demonstration Project (2-115):  Completed 2008

·      Shore Drive Phase II (2-116):  Currently at 30% design, project is on hold due to funding

·      Shore Drive Phase III (2-117):  Currently at 30% design, project is on hold due to funding

·      Shore Drive Phase IV (2-118):  Currently at 30% design, project was funded for construction in 2012, however this may be delayed to 2016. This is Ocean Park area. Marlin Bay > Lesner Bridge.

·      Lesner Bridge Replacement Project (2-168):  Approaching 90% design, no funding for construction or utility relocations

About the proposed Hookah Lounge and one comment

From Grace:

Good morning.

If anyone is interested in the follow-up on the proposed hookah bar at the old Foon’s location, Channel 13 did a story on it.  The link is in the forwarded email below.  Also, since I had no idea what a hookah bar is when I first heard of it, I went to my favorite 21st century reference resource.  Here is the link that explains the concept.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah_lounge

I guess before we rush to judgment about the proposed business, we ought to consider a couple of things.

Number one, we know that it is not doing anyone any good to have an idle property sitting there not creating jobs, not generating revenue, not paying much in the way of taxes.  For years this place was a successful restaurant and satisfactory neighbor.

Number two, once a variance is received for the parking, and presumably a Conditional Use Permit issued, residents have no control of what use the property enjoys.  The CUP may set the parameters of operation, but in my observation, there is little to no enforcement once the business opens, and even less, once the property has conveyed a time or two.

The BZA hearing is just about the parking space allocation, but if that hurdle is passed, I predict you will see a hookah bar at that location.  And that is not necessarily a bad thing.  Maybe we should mount an expeditionary force to the already-operating Nimbus.

Happy 4th.
Regards,
Grace Moran
President, SDCC

Comment from the Editor:

How much work has the proposed owners done to ensure a safe Shore Drive?

Examples: Are they lobbying for sidewalks/multi-use paths near them to
encourage people to walk instead of drive.
They are asking for less parking after all.

Are they lobbying for dedicated bike lanes to encourage people to ride?

Do they have a plan to take people home who shouldn’t drive or even to
pick people up?

Are they working on a “local shuttle” for people to take?  There are
plenty examples of that including in Richmond where local
establishments share “buses” for the specific purpose of getting
people out of their cars to travel safely and not worry about
how/where to park.

If they want to be part of the Shore Drive community safely - this is
their opportunity to set the standard on the way in.

And as always - if anything should be posted at SDCC.info email me
exactly what you want there - including the owners of the proposed
Hookah Lounge.

Tim

TBA President asks the Mayor & City Council to reinstitute the SDSTF

Have you written a letter to City Council asking them to resurrect the SDSTF?  .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Posted unedited with permission:

Dear Vice Mayor Jones and Council Wood,
My name is Steve Zeligman and I am a Virginia Beach resident. I am also president of the Tidewater Bicycle Association (TBA), a 650 member bicycle club. Many of TBA’s members also reside in Virginia Beach.

I am writing because TBA would like to express it continued concern regarding safety for bicyclists and pedestrians along the Shore Drive corridor. In December 2005, the Virginia Beach City Council established the Shore Drive Safety Task Force (SDSTF), which benefited from Councilman Wood’s participation, as well as the involvement of other current Council members. The SDSTF was established to specifically advise City Council with respect to safety issues along Shore Drive and to recommend short, mid and long term safety improvements. TBA would like to join Grace Moran and the Shore Drive Community Coalition (SDCC) in requesting the City of Virginia Beach consider reinstituting the SDSTF to recommend solutions to current safety issues plaguing the Shore Drive corridor.

It has been publicly argued on the Virginia Pilot website that Shore Drive is a major corridor that should be reserved solely for motorized traffic. This can be disputed by the fact that Shore Drive transverses through several residential and beach front communities, and the number of people who have been injured and killed while trying to enjoy the neighborhoods they call home. It is TBA’s position the new 35 mph speed limit should become permanent and additional safety improvements, as recommended by a reinstituted SDSTF, be seriously considered as well.

As Virginia Beach grows, traffic congestion will continue to increase unless alternative methods of transportation, such as bicycling, are encouraged by providing on-road bicycling facilities to do so safely. For example, if Shore Drive were upgraded with appropriate on-road bicycling facilities, numerous cars would be taken off the road and out of congested parking areas at Little Creek NAB, Ft Story and the Oceanfront because it would become safer for local residents to become bicycle commuters.

Additionally, new shops and eateries and eateries could become a great magnet to bring hundreds, possibly thousands, of bicyclists to the Shore Drive Corridor if adequate on-road bicycling facilities existed to make the trip a safe one. This would enable Virginia Beach to compete with our neighboring cities, such as Norfolk and Portsmouth, which are already incorporating on-road bicycling facilities into their city rejuvenation projects. Businesses in these cities are already enjoying increased revenue from bicyclists and young professionals relocating to these cities because they use bicycles as their primary form of transportation. It is even possible that Virginia Beach could eventually host a major bicycling event similar to the first annual Coast Guard City Century, hosted by City of Portsmouth this coming August – yet another potential new source of tourist revenue. Of course this would require coordinated planning efforts and interconnections with other projects, such as a Laskin Road Gateway if it were upgraded to become bicycle friendly.

The five foot sidewalks, that Virginia Beach tends to favor for bicycles, are not a viable solution to increase revenue or encourage the additional bicycle traffic and events that would bring new tourist dollars into our city. Wide sidewalks are great for a family ride around the block, but they will never decrease automobile traffic or encourage alternate forms of transportation. They are also part of the obsolete concept that travel along Shore Drive MUST occur in an automobile. Other local cities have already begun to rejuvenate by changing this paradigm and encouraging bicycling as an alternative form of transportation that removes cars from their roads and congested parking areas. It is time for Virginia Beach to enter the 21st Century and do what we can to take cars off our congested roads.

TBA realizes that creating on-road bicycle facilities is expensive, yet roads such as Shore Drive can be made more bicycle friendly for minimal expense. Bruce Drees, TBA’s Legislation and Advocacy Committee Chairman, advocates that Virginia Beach should include painted shared use arrows, or “Sharrows”, in MUTCD terminology, on key roads that are already used by cyclists, such as Shore Drive.  His supporting reasons are that planned roads of insufficient width for cars and bikes to safely share a lane. Bicyclists are already legal users of existing roads. They will also be present as legal users of the rejuvenated roads. MUTCD “Sharrow” markings do a much better job of alerting motorists to the presence and legitimate use of a road by cyclists compared to traditional signage. Additionally, a reinstituted SDSTF could be charged with the responsibility of making recommendations that will make our roads safer for all users.

Sincerely,
Steve Zeligman, TBA President

Letter to City Council asking for Shore Drive Safety Task Force to be resurrected

Have you written a letter to City Council asking them to resurrect the SDSTF?  .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Posted unedited with permission:

Dear City Council Members:
I am writing to thank you for lowering the speed limit on Shore Drive in the wake of several pedestrian fatalities over the past year.  I believe this is a very important step in our continued effort to make Shore Drive safer.  Many folks that I have talked to who opposed lowering of the speed limit have changed their minds when they learned that pedestrians are afforded greater protection under the law on roadways where the speed limit is lower than 45 mph.  Lowering the speed limit is not the only solution, but again, it is a very important step.  Unfortunately, we still have alot of work to do!

I urge you to resurrect the Shore Drive Safety Task Force (SDSTF), as requested by the Shore Drive Community Coalition.  Many short term improvements were made to Shore Drive as a result of the hard work the original SDSTF accomplished, but progress has waned since 2007, and we have lost at least 5 more people since the SDSTF disbanded.  In addition, several new issues have emerged, making the reformation of the SDSTF even more critical.  I know that the Bayfront Advisory Committee (BAC) would rather the issue be addressed in a BAC subcommittee, but I know from personal experience, as a former member of BAC and the SDSTF,  that BAC simply does not have the resources or the where-with-all to accomplish such an important and complex task in a timely manner.  I have told Kal Kassir I will willingly and enthusiastically work with any group who is devoted to improving safety on Shore Drive, but that this critical issue should not be relegated to volunteer groups who meet when time allows.  As hard as all of us are working out here to make Shore Drive safer, we can’t effectively do it alone.  We need you!  Please consider re-appointing a SDSTF so that we can review the previous recommendations, determine what has been done, and map out an updated plan for getting both short and longterm safety improvements to Shore Drive.  I believe that City staff can provide the resources, experience, and expertise necessary to get this done.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
June Barrett-McDaniels
Ketch Court

Should the City have an Official Shore Drive Safety Task Force 2010?

Please take the Poll at ShareShoreDriveDay.net - upper right corner of page.

Weekly update on Beach Access repairs from Nor’Ida

Grace,

As of this morning, 7 of the 9 Beach Accesses are substantially complete and currently being utilized by the public.

Whaler Ct. will be completed today – remaining work is debris clean up.

Sandalwood Rd.  & Great Neck Rd. Accesses – Still waiting for the railing fittings to be delivered to install the ADA handrail & non-skid strips on the ramping at Sandalwood Rd. and the steel handrail and fittings at Great Neck Rd.

Velzey Ave. – Construction to begin tomorrow and should be completed by this weekend.

Delays have been due to specialized material deliveries from manufacturers and , specifically this week, contractor equipment breakdown.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Very truly yours,

Karl L. Smithson, APM
PW/Operations - Technical Support
385-1540 (Office)
403-3821 (Cell)

Take the VB Bikeways & Trails Survey now please

Please take the Virginia Beach Bikeways & Trails Survey now:
Please take it right now at VBGov.com - make a difference.

Last time it was done, guess which road ranked #1 by far for more bike lanes?

FHA’s 2009 National Household Travel Survey shows that both bicycling and walking trips have….

...increased!

Can you imagine how much it will increase thanks to 35?

How about when there’s bike lanes and multi-use paths on all of Shore Drive?

More about FHA’s report at The Hampton Roads Cyclist:

“This report demonstrates what we’ve been saying here at the Department,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.  “Americans want and need safe alternatives to driving. And by making biking and walking safer and more accessible, we’ll be able to provide Americans with more choices and help foster more active, livable communities.”

Cross posted at ShareShoreDriveDay.net.

New column coming to SDCC.info - CASPER

What is CASPER?

CASPER = Coastal Action Storm Plan Emergency Response

Stay tuned.

“Reducing speed can’t be the only precaution Virginia Beach takes on Shore Drive.”

Editorial in the Pilot for Friday June 11th:

The vote last week was the fastest and least expensive way to make the four-lane road less deadly, and the council, lately a sharply divided group, was smart to speak in a united voice.

[Note: This Editor believes it is absurd that some people have written that they think this was a negative decision and a 25 MPH Speed Limit is next. Also, when the data is made public, people will see drunks crossing Shore Drive was never the issue.  Speed, driving distracted, poor decision making and more all contributed. Finally - killing the image that Shore Drive is an interstate needed to die. Not more people. If you don’t want to help make Shore Drive safer - go around.]

Please accept our thanks for your bold initiative in reducing the speed limit…

Dear Vice Mayor Jones and Councilman Wood,
Please accept our thanks for your bold initiative in reducing the speed limit from N. Great Neck Road to Pleasure House Road recently.  We understand that this is not a permanent measure, and that studies must be performed and other safety improvements made to the infrastructure of Shore Drive.  However, your action to implement a speed reduction in the interim has made many feel that at least some effort is being made by the City to improve safety conditions.
We realize that this has been a contentious move, and we would have you to know that for all the negative comments posted online and in the newspaper, we have heard just as many (if not more) positive responses from the residents along the Corridor.  You have both been in public service long enough to know that the “aginners” are typically more vocal than the proponents.
The Shore Drive Community Coalition (SDCC) would like to lodge a formal request that the City Council resurrect the Shore Drive Safety Task Force (SDSTF) which did such fine work from 2005-2006.  We respectfully request that the revitalized SDSTF take the same form as the original.  That is to say, that the appropriate City Staff, representatives from the Bayfront Advisory Committee (BAC), SDCC and representatives from the bicyclist community comprise the panel, under the oversight of a Deputy City Manager.  Other members might be assigned at the discretion of the Deputy City Manager in charge.  I believe that Charles Meyers was the Deputy City Manager assigned this role in the original SDSTF.
Once again, we thank you for the courage and concern you have demonstrated in this matter, and your enduring service in all matters of benefit to the City of Virginia Beach.
Very respectfully,
Grace Moran
President, Shore Drive Community Coalition

Learn how to cycle safely with this course offered June 25th & 26th

More at League of American Bicyclists:

To register for this course, contact:

  Bruce Drees
  Phone: 757-647-3987
  Contact Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
  Website: http://www.hrcyclist.info

Signup required in advance? Yes
Special signup instructions: Please contact the instructor at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to reserve your seat today!

Equipment required: bicycle, bike helmet

3 question poll and add your comments to make Shore Drive safer

Take a minute and click here.