Another morning in Hampton Roads. The Midtown Tunnel is closed. The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel is backed up, although a VDOT spokeswoman cheerfully denied the video evidence on TV and maintained that the system is “flowing beautifully.” High Street, Crawford Parkway, and other access roads to the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, courts, and municipal buildings are flooded. In Norfolk, access to our main trauma center is limited by tidal flooding. Streets are under water, littered with abandoned cars. To the west, the James River Bridge is closed because of city street flooding. The Monitor-Merrimac Tunnel is congested in both directions as exits and alternative routes clog due to flooding. To the south, the Great Bridge Bridge and Dominion Boulevard are closed. The Steel Bridge is closed. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel has severe wind restrictions and may close soon. Of course, we lost the Jordan Bridge to neglect long ago.
And all this from a “mere” Nor’easter. With 5 to 8 inches of rain so far. ”Only” 20-30 mile per hour winds with 50 mph gusts. We have not tried to evacuate anyone from coastal areas. Reading the list above, what would your evacuation route be, exactly? What if this were a hurricane? How would you get out?
Roads, tunnels and bridges are not a “nice to have” around here. Transportation is a life and death issue. We have been pretending for 20 years that roads will just build themselves if we close our eyes and wish hard enough.
Now we’ve elected a new governor who touted himself as “Virginia Beach’s Own” Bob McDonnell. Thank goodness! Finally, we have someone in power in Richmond with our interests at heart. With McDonnell plus senior Republican power brokers like Bob Purkey and Bob Tata in key committee positions, our transportation problems will soon be over!
What? McDonnell thinks the problem can be solved by offshore oil, public/private partnerships, and taking money from the many other things the state already can’t pay for? All without raising anybody’s taxes? The plan? Soon the bridge and tunnel fairy will visit us, sprinkle adequate roads, bridges and tunnels throughout our area and we’ll all live happily ever after.
Until then, buy a snorkle.
Filed under: Bob McDonnell, Bob Purkey, Bob Tata, Local, Republicans, Transportation | Tagged: Bob McDonnell, Bob Purkey, Bob Tata, Hampton Roads, Republicans, Transportation
