If you were opposed to the Northern alignment of the Lesner Bridge replacement, the news was bad. Unless a miracle happens, future residents of 3556 will be seeing headlights in their living rooms. The City still plans to meet privately with the residents of the condominium building, but Deputy Manager acknowledged that the decision to go North was etched in stone, or nearly so.

If you were one of the many residents of Cape Henry Shores or Cape Story by the Sea who wants to see the speed limit lowered on Shore Drive to 35 mph from Ft. Story to N. Great Neck Road, there is still hope. Mr. Robert Gey of Public Works Traffic Division gave a short study on what the City feels it needs to do to address this problem. He revealed that the City was already planning to install 8 solar-powered pedestrian signs with flashing lights attached, 4 in each direction, between First Landing State Park and the Lesner Bridge. He also noted that State codes require that a traffic study precede any change, and that Public Works planned a traffic study for this stretch in July, with results by September.

In a rebuttal presentation, David Williams, of Cape Henry Shores noted that there had already been two studies, one in 2005 for the Shore Drive Safety Task Force review, and one in 2006, for which the City could provide no information. He noted that over the past 20 years, residents had been asking for relief from this risk, and showed a number of slides demonstrating that the danger was exacerbated by a curve some 700’ from the intersection, which allowed only about 4 seconds of reaction time (assuming a 50 mph speed of the oncoming vehicle) in exiting from Kendall Drive, which is the only ingress/egress for over 180 households.

Mr. Jason Cosby, Director of Public Works for the City, asked to meet with the interested parties at the site and to further discuss possible actions to reduce the risk. A number of attendees were eager to volunteer, as the neighborhoods of Cape Henry Shores and Cape Story by the Sea feel that another summer at risk while awaiting the results of another study, is just one summer too many. At Mr. Cosby’s suggestion, a committee will be formed to continue working on the speed/safety issues at Kendall and Shore Drive. The committee would meet at the site and also continue to meet and implement improvements.