I ♥ Light Rail
Nov 2nd

Now available! Get you I [heart] Light Rail gear today to show your support for Light Rail in Hampton Roads!
Available Products: Hats, Shirts, Coffee Mugs, Water Bottles, Mouse Pads, Tote Bags, and Stickers. Shirts and large tote bag also says “I support Light Rail in Hampton Roads” on one side. Ideal to wear to public hearings, work, school, shopping, or just walking around! Get ‘em while they’re hot!
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Get Yur Publik Edjumication Heer
Mar 4th
Chesapeake Light Rail Corridors
Feb 23rd
Fix Hampton Roads – Part 2
Feb 20th
If you would like to report a roadway problem on a state maintained interstate or county road, please contact VDOT by visiting our website. Copy and paste the website address www.VirginiaDOT.org in your browser. Click the “Travel Center” link and then “Report a Road Problem.” You can also report roadway issues by calling 1-800-367-ROAD (7623).
If you would like to report a roadway issue on a city road, please contact your local city office.
Thank you.
Lauren Hansen
VDOT Public Affairs
Hampton Roads District
Perhaps, if Ms. Hanson had spent the same amount of time recording the issues instead of blowing them off, VDOT would be viewed as a friendlier organization. Ms. Hanson (and VDOT), this site is an excellent tool for public departments such as yours to connect to the public without forcing them to navigate the complex world of a government-maintained website. SeeClickFix.com is a place where Virginia residents (VDOT’s ‘customers’) are posting their problems. If there are so many issues being reported on SeeClickFix versus VDOT’s own website, that should send the message that one is friendlier and more effective on the user end. I know that with as much as I do and with as much as I contact government organizations to ask for results, I did not even know VDOT had a report form. I assure you that the vast majority of Virginians do not know either. Please stop making things more difficult for yourselves. Just let residents know that you hear their problems and are working to fix them.
Tide’s Final Cost = $338,284,251
Feb 19th
HRT has released their final “cost-to-completion” for the Tide light rail system currently under construction in Norfolk. The new final cost is $338,284,251. This is, of course, much higher than the $232 million that was originally promised. Despite claims that HRT’s new President and CEO Philip Shucet is responsible for the firming up of the new number, the consultant was actually hired for the job by Townes, who knew about the cost overruns but failed to live up to City Council’s standards. It actually would make sense to me that the numbers Townes was feeding council were the preliminary numbers from his consultant. The difference between Townes’s and Shucet’s communication is that Townes should have done what Shucet did: tell council to hold on for a couple weeks while the consultant finishes the estimate.
Regardless, I hope that the project can stick to these numbers until completion. Personally, if Shucet does a good job with costs, I think we should demote him to a position to simply control LRT construction. That way we can hire a President and CEO that actually knows how to operate a transit system.
Waterside’s Impending Future
Feb 19th
Norfolk has finally announced that it will start a 10-month-long public input period for the future of Waterside. According to the Virginian-Pilot, Mayor Fraim wants to keep the facility open to the public. This could be a step in the right direction. First, Norfolk has finally decided to listen to its own residents instead of some consultant that lives in another state. I really think that the current structure of Waterside can be utilized with the proper renovations. Before I expand on my vision for Waterside, I want to quote the prayer that was said for Waterside’s opening. The prayer was delivered by then-Vice Mayor and Reverend for Grace Episcopal Church, Rev. Joseph N. Green Jr.
Almighty God, You have given us this good land for our heritage. Make us a people mindful of Your favor and glad to do Your will. Continue to bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Bless those whom You have given the authority of government. And bless this place, Waterside. Father, in the beginning you moved over the waters in creation to cause the whole world to come into being. You led the children of Israel out of their bondage and slavery to the land of promise through water. And just as You have created us and we went away from You, You welcomed us back, and called us whenever we went astray to come and return. We began at the water but went away from You, and You called us to return to this place, to this Waterside, to build our future. May it be a place of joy, a place where men and women, boys and girls, old and young, black and white, Jews and gentiles, will gather as one people and one city. Set it aside for our use and all our people we pray in your name. Amen.
We need to look back on this prayer as more of a prayer. This is a vision statement. Waterside was built as a place that all residents and visitors could come and have a good time, regardless of gender, age, race, religion, or economic standing. This is what we need to strive towards again. Waterside seems to have turned into a place where only young drunks can enjoy themselves. The city has shut down some of that, however, and with sporadic renovations, it has turned into a place where the homeless can enjoy a comfortable nap.
Waterside cannot and should not be turned into a shopping destination. It would only compete with (and most likely lose to) MacArthur Center. It has to become a mix of local places with the aim of having something for everybody. Small shops, a locally owned convenience store or newsstand, a locally owned seafood/fresh food restaurant, a couple of clothing stores, a bag/purse store, etc. Originally, Waterside had stores like gift shops, clothing stores, a kite store, a collectible store, an other hard-to-find places. It could be returned to that. Despite popular belief, our area is full of small entrepreneurs who would love to be in a renovated Waterside. The most important thing, in my opinion, is the view. Waterside was created to give the everyday resident access to the waterfront view that was too often too expensive to see in other cities. Waterside still has a good view… from the outside. The original Waterside had an open interior similar to MacArthur Center, allowing the second floor patrons to look down onto the floor below. The second floor, instead of being closed of and made up of one or two large businesses that are only open at night, was made up of small shops. Each of these shops had large glass windows on the inside and the outside, allowing visitors to see the river from any place inside Waterside.
Waterside can once again be a major attraction. If you add in the proper pedestrian connections between Waterside and MacArthur Center (and the LRT station), Waterside could once again spur an influx in investment. This time, however, in the street level spaces around the financial district.






