Saturday, July 17, 2010

Is Tide Extension A Priority Or What?!?

One of the prerogatives of the Chairman of the Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads (TDCHR) is the sole authority over the appointment of committee members, including Chairmen.

It's the Planning and New Starts Development Committee that oversees new transit system studies, most notably light rail. The committee is a merger of the former Planning and Development Committee and the New Starts Committee. The impossibly clunky name is to indicate that it exercises the functions of both. However, at Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) the committee is commonly referred to as "New Starts".

With Randy Wright the previous Chairman, Paul Riddick needed to appoint a new Chairman and Vice Chairman. The new Chairman is John Uhrin of Virginia Beach; the new Vice Chairman is Cliff Hayes of Chesapeake. Hey, Chairman Riddick isn't usually very subtle.

7 comments:

thesh00ter said...

so this is a good thing right?

sry, i have a hard time following sometimes

Avenging Archangel said...

Yes, it is. With the Norfolk Starter Line about 90% complete, it shows the primary focus is shifting towards extending The Tide through the region.

Personally, I like extension into Portsmouth before Chesapeake. However, that's hamstrung by tunneling under the Elizabeth River.

thesh00ter said...

sweet

would u say this would probably be one of the focuses to helping the HRBT with traffic or that's probably gonna be a combo of both roads and rail?

Avenging Archangel said...

Shooter,

You couldn't put enough traffic lanes across the harbor to deal with the HRBT's issues. LRT is the key to HRBT & MMBT congestion.

thesh00ter said...

i agree

however, do u think another alternative until the rail system is expanded would be BRT via a high rise bridge over the HRBT? (much like the one they visioned but with just 2 lanes, east and west) or would that be a safety hazard?

Avenging Archangel said...

Shooter,

You're not going to build a bridge high enough and with the correct materials to get the Navy to sign off on it.

The interim transit mode would be fast passenger ferries. There is a proposal in the pipes to do exactly that.

thesh00ter said...

i see, well i look forward to the changes and hope Hampton jumps on the bandwagon (for Light Rail) sometime this century