Posts tagged HSR
Finally, High Speed Progess
Nov 2nd
Source of Image: The Virginian-Pilot
Finally, with only months left before the deadline, the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization has voted to push for High Speed Rail to the Southside, terminating in Downtown Norfolk. The vote was unanimous among those in attendance. Nay-sayers might say that it doesn’t really mean that there is support, since four of the Peninsula cities went unrepresented but they had their chance. They obviously did not think that it was important enough for them to need to go. I have to say, however, that the Mayor of Hampton, Molly Ward, should get some sort of reward. Fhe was quoted as saying, “You do whats best for the region and the commonwealth. You don’t make any progress when you just say no.” That was definitely a show of regionalism. If only our other localities had mayors that were smart enough to speak out publicly and say that it wasn’t just about what was good for their city, but instead it was about what was good for the region. Good job Mayor Ward.
This move is not the final say, however. It will not be final until the Commonwealth Transportation Board votes on the issue. If it passed the Board, it opens the door to High Speed Rail to Hampton Roads. This new High Speed line will terminate near Harbor Park, where a proposed multi-modal station would be built where High Speed Rail, Light Rail, and local buses could meet. All is not lost for the Peninsula, however. Under this plan they would receive upgrades to their current rail service.
Please contact the CTB and urge their support of this option. You can email Carol Mathis, the Assistant Secretary to the Board with your comments.
One more thing…
Feb 11th
In addition, one of the main arguments for expanding out highways is the evacuation factor. Can you imagine 1.5 million people driving out on our current roads? Even expanded, thats still a lot of people, especially when it takes 2 hours to get to Richmond we the traffic IS moving. Now going with the LRT plan, if we connected it to the proposed high speed rail to Richmond (http://www.rich2hrrail.info). This trail would travel at an estimated speed of over 100 mph. That means Norfolk to Richmond in an hour or less. If people were evacuated using mass transportation, we could be evacuated quicker with less traffic on the roads. It would also speed up the process of returning after an evacuation, when interstates resume to normal operating procedures (they switch to an all-lanes-out procedure during an evacuation). It seems that once again, outdated thinking and stubborn pride is tromping over reasoned logic.
