By: Keith Nichols
Senior Transportation Engineer

With water being such a prominent part of the Hampton Roads landscape, bridges are a critical part of the regional transportation system.  There are over 1,200 bridges in Hampton Roads, ranging from small culverts to some of the longest bridges in the world. 

Of these 1,214 bridges in Hampton Roads, 77 are classified as structurally deficient.  Structurally deficient bridges are structures with elements that need to be monitored and/or repaired, and eventually need to be rehabilitated or replaced.  It should be noted, however, that structurally deficient bridges are not necessarily unsafe, and bridge inspectors will close or place weight limits on any bridge that is unsafe.

Examples of prominent structurally deficient bridges in Hampton Roads include the Gilmerton Bridge, Lesner Bridge, Denbigh Boulevard Bridge over I-64 in Newport News, Churchland Bridge, and a segment of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

In addition, another 271 bridges in Hampton Roads are classified as functionally obsolete.  Functionally obsolete bridges are structures that were built to standards that are no longer used today, and have narrow lanes, low vertical clearances, difficult approaches, or may occasionally be flooded.

VDOT has made improving bridges a priority, both in Hampton Roads and throughout the Commonwealth.  A total of 27 bridge projects in Hampton Roads are included in the current Six-Year Improvement Program, with a total of $339 million in allocations.  Many structurally deficient bridge projects are funded, including the Gilmerton Bridge, Lesner Bridge, and Denbigh Boulevard Bridge over I-64.

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization completed a thorough study of bridges in 2008.  This study is available at the HRTPO website at http://hrtpo.org/Documents/Reports/2008/RegionalBridgeStudyFinalReport.pdf.

Structurally Deficient and Functionally Obsolete Bridges in Hampton Roads

By Dale Stith
Transportation Planner

What is this Study?

The Rural Long Range Transportation Plan (RLRP) is part of a new initiative to create regional transportation plans in rural areas that complement those in Virginia’s metropolitan and small urban areas.  The RLRP looks at improvements that can be made in the near-term and in the future, as far as the year 2035, in order to assess the effects of population and employment growth upon the transportation system.

Each RLRP was developed as a blueprint, or vision plan, to address all of the needs of the transportation system, regardless of anticipated funding availability. This regional plan can then be used by local, regional, and state agencies to identify transportation funding priorities.  The RLRP document for this region has more details on all of the analyses and recommendations.

Draft 2035 Rural Long Range Transportation Plan

Executive Summary

What Do You Think?

We would like to hear your comments on the information in this report:  in particular, the proposed recommendations.

Please submit comments no later than May 20, 2011 to Dale M. Stith by email at dstith@hrpdcva.gov or by telephone at 757-420-8300.

Submit Comment Form online
Download Comment Form to submit later

Kendall Miller
Public Involvement and Community Outreach Administrator

TRB Special Report 304: How We Travel: A Sustainable National Program for Travel Data assesses the current state of travel data at the federal, state, and local levels and defines an achievable and sustainable travel data system that could support public and private transportation decision making. The committee that developed the report recommends the organization of a National Travel Data Program built on a core of essential passenger and freight travel data sponsored at the federal level and well integrated with travel data collected by states, metropolitan planning organizations, transit and other local agencies, and the private sector.  To get a copy of the report, click here.

March 17, 2011
The Regional Board Room, 723 Woodlake Drive, Chesapeake, Virginia

1.    CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by the Chair at approximately 10:30 a.m.

2.    PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
A private citizen and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Commonwealth Transportation Board, and the Greater Norfolk Corporation addressed the HRTPO Board.

3.    SUBMITTED PUBLIC COMMENTS
A submitted written public comment was provided to the HRTPO Board.

4.    APPROVAL OF AGENDA
A new agenda item was added to be discussed under Agenda Item #20 New Business at the request of the Citizen Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) Chair.  Furthermore, the Executive Director requested to move Agenda Item #9 FY 2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program: Draft Project List from the Consent Agenda to the Regular Agenda.

CONSENT AGENDA:
Agenda items under the Consent Agenda were approved by the HRTPO Board.

5.    Minutes

6.    FY 2009-2012 Transportation Improvement Program Amendment: VDOT

7.    FY 2009-2012 Transportation Improvement Program Revision: Virginia Beach

8.    Hampton Roads 2030 LRTP and FY 2009-2012 Transportation Improvement Program Air Quality Conformity: Final Report

10.    Freight Transportation Advisory Committee: Membership

11.    FY 2012 Federal Grant Application: Rural Transportation

REGULAR AGENDA:

9.    FY 2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program: Draft Project List
The HRTPO Board approved the draft project list and appendix materials so that work may begin on the Air Quality Conformity analysis in April 2011.

12.    Transportation Project Prioritization: CTAC Resolution
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this item.

13.    Transportation Project Prioritization: Recommended List of Projects and Studies
The HRTPO Board approved to the Recommended Transportation Project and Studies Priorities list.

14.    Allocating CMAQ and RSTP Funds Through FY 2017
The HRTPO Board approved the Additional New CMAQ & RSTP Allocations (Tables 2 & 5), as well as the TIP amendment to incorporate the new project and funding information into the FY 2009-2012 TIP, with two opposing votes from the Virginia Department of Transportation and Hampton Roads Transit representatives.

15.    Transit Vision Plan: Final Report and Resolution
The HRTPO Board approved to the report and the resolution.

16.    High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail: Status Update
The HRTPO Board approved the authorization of the Executive Director to continue working with the high-speed rail consultant to evaluate the status of the federal programs, work in harmony with DRPT regarding their efforts, and craft a scope of work that is responsive to the federal program and not duplicative of DRPT’s efforts.

17.    HRTPO Board Action Items: Three-Month Tentative Schedule
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this item.

18.    Correspondence of Interest
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this item.

19.    For Your Information
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this item.

20.    Old/New Business
At the request of the CTAC Chair, a new agenda item was created to address renewing membership to those CTAC members with expiring term limits.  The HRTPO Board approved the renewal of the membership of those CTAC members with a one-year initial term limit to an additional three-year term, as well as authorized the Executive Director to coordinate with localities to fill vacant CTAC membership positions.

ADJOURNMENT

VDOT has announced a series of tentative public hearing dates and locations for their 2012 SYIP. The SYIP is the Commonwealth Transportation Board's (CTB) program for allocating funding for rail, public transportation, commuter assistance, bicycle, pedestrian, interstate and primary highway transportation projects in future years. HRTPO will update the meeting dates as they become available. To see a list of hearing dates and locations, see the table below.

Jessica Banks
Senior Transportation Analyst

In 1995, Virginia passed the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA), which allows the Commonwealth to enter into agreements with private entities to construct, improve, maintain and operate transportation facilities.  Since then, Virginia’s Office of Transportation Public Private Partnerships (PPTA Office), in coordination with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), has considered several PPTA proposals for Hampton Roads projects, including:

MIDTOWN TUNNEL/MLK EXTENSION/DOWNTOWN TUNNEL
The project improvements call for the design and construction of a parallel Midtown Tunnel, extension of the MLK Freeway between I-264 and London Boulevard and improvements to the existing Midtown and Downtown tunnels.

Status of PPTA Project:
On May 20, 2010, VDOT determined that the project is technically and operationally feasible, and the VDOT Commissioner advanced the project to the second phase of the Interim Agreement (PPTA Phase 6).  It is anticipated that the financial feasibility and the terms of a Comprehensive Agreement will be determined by the second quarter of 2011.  Upon execution of the Comprehensive Agreement, it is estimated that construction will begin in 2011 and finish in 2015.

HAMPTON ROADS BRIDGE-TUNNEL
During the 2010 session, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation requiring VDOT to accept for review unsolicited proposals to add capacity to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel between Hampton and Norfolk (2010 Va. Acts ch. 126).

Status of PPTA Proposals:
•    VDOT's Commissioner formally accepted Hampton Roads Crossings’ unsolicited conceptual proposal on October 28, 2010.  This conceptual proposal is currently being evaluated by an Independent Review Panel (PPTA Phase 2).  The panel will make recommendations to the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) in 2011.

•    The PPTA Office, in coordination with VDOT, received a proposal on March 2, 2011 from Cintra Infraestructuras S.A.  The PPTA Office will review the proposal to determine conformance with the requirements of 2010 Va. Acts ch. 126 (PPTA Phase 1).  Prior to May 1, 2011, the PPTA Office will make a presentation to the CTB detailing their recommendation of whether to advance the proposal for consideration by an Independent Review Panel.

•    The PPTA Office, in coordination with VDOT, received a proposal on March 2, 2011 from Hampton Roads Mobility Group.  The PPTA Office will review the proposal to determine conformance with the requirements of 2010 Va. Acts ch. 126 (PPTA Phase 1).  Prior to May 1, 2011, the PPTA Office will make a presentation to the CTB detailing their recommendation of whether to advance the proposal for consideration by an Independent Review Panel.

US ROUTE 460

During fall 2010, VDOT actively sought out proposals to construct of approximately 55 miles of four-lane divided limited access highway between Petersburg and Suffolk Virginia. 

Status of PPTA Proposals:
On September 7, 2010, VDOT received three US Route 460 proposals from:

•    Cintra Infraestructuras S.A
•    460 Partners, Inc.
•    Multimodal Solutions LLC

On March 2, 2011, the VDOT Commissioner approved the advancement of three proposals.  In making this determination, the PPTA Office and VDOT staff have been tasked with addressing the comments and recommendations provided by the CTB and the Independent Review Panel.  The PPTA Office will issue the Request for Detailed Proposals on March 25, 2011, at which time all three proposers will be invited to submit detailed proposals (PPTA Phase 4).

To learn more about these projects and the PPTA process, please visit VDOT’s PPTA webpage at: http://www.virginiadot.org/business/ppta-default.asp

Kendall Miller

Public Involvement and Community Outreach Administrator

Although newspapers are reaching fewer and fewer citizens, more than 100 million Americans log onto Facebook daily. Consequently, the Internet has now surpassed television as the most viewed media in the United States. While Facebook was once only a vehicle for reaching younger demographics, social networking has grown in popularity among seniors and baby boomers. In fact, citizens over age 35 are the fastest growing Facebook demographic.  As a result, HRTPO has launched its new Facebook  site.  In addition to information about HRTPO meetings, projects and initiatives the Facebook site will stream content from other partner sites, using  Facebook applications such as RSS feeds, MyFlickr, and YouTube Video Box.  Check out our new Facebook site at Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization.

"Blueprint America" is a PBS initiative looking at America's decaying infrastructure.  The multi-media content covers numerous facets of infrastructure, from transportation to energy and development.  The project was started in 2008 and new content continues to be added. 

The "Blueprint America" website is at www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/