The Canoes unveiled July 28th at 11am and you’re invited !
Author Archives: Tim
“Responding officers found Brandon Carneal, 26, of Virginia Beach, at the scene. Carneal was pronounced dead shortly after their arrival.”
“An eyewitness told 10 On Your Side two motorcyclists both accelerated west at a high speed when the red light they were stopped at switched to green.”
According to the witness, the trailing motorcyclist lost control and crossed into eastbound traffic.
Horrific accident closes #LESNERBRIDGE for another several hours
Want to lend a hand in finishing an educational art installation at Pleasure House Point?
From Irene Bowers, reporter for Virginian-Pilot:
Benjamin Heller is a visiting artist from NY on a grant from VBeach Office of Cultural Affairs. He is creating a sculpture—Terrapin Basin—near the Brock Environmental Center. His assistant had to leave, and he is finishing alone.
Here are two ways to help:
1. Interested adults can help polish the rock surfaces. Benjamin will show you how to use the polishers.
2. He could use 600 feet, yup that much, of three pronged or grounded electric cord. He already has one set of 600’ and hopes to borrow enough to run several polishers for any volunteers. He will tag and return the cord to owners upon completion.
You can find him out there early morning to night.
Contact him at: benjaminhellerart@gmail.com
You can read about Terrapin Basin here.
#LESNERBRIDGE update from Project Manager:”July 6th A major milestone will be reached – the placement of the final bridge segment of the EB bridge superstructure . . .”
From an email:
On Friday, July 6th A major milestone will be reached – the placement of the final bridge segment of the EB bridge superstructure (see email below). Although not as important as opening the bridge to traffic (still anticipated the last week of August), this event does mark the end of all major bridge construction for the project. After that segment is placed and the tendons stressed and grouted, the gantry will be launched ahead to the bridge approach (in front of the VA/MD Pilots Association) and readied for disassembly. Work is already taking place for the disassembly of the loading gantry located in the Lynnhaven Dredge Material Storage Area.
I just wanted to let you all know of this event just in case you wanted to be there Friday morning and view from the sidewalk of the WB Bridge. Right now somewhere between 9:30 AM and 11:00AM looks like about the time they will set that segment.
Hooray!
-Chris
Christopher J. Wojtowicz, PE
Engineering Construction Manager
City of Virginia Beach
Department of Public Works
Engineering Division
2405 Courthouse Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23456-9031
Office: (757) 385-5785
Fax: (757) 385-5668
Email: cwojtowi@vbgov.comFrom: Tom Bettcher [mailto:tbettcher@mcleancontracting.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 5, 2018 3:38 PM
To: Chris J. Wojtowicz
Cc: James P. Hess ; Vincent Smith
Subject: Span 10 UpdateChris,
As of 3:15 this afternoon (Thursday), the crew is working on the 7th of 13 total joints in Span 10. We lost a little time today with the passing showers and had to “unstack” the second half of the segments. Hopefully two more joints will be completed today, leaving 4 to do tomorrow. Typical joints take approximately 45 minutes with the last two, which are done somewhat concurrently, taking slightly longer. As of right now, my best guess for finishing would be between 9:30 AM & 11 AM tomorrow.
Tom Bettcher
Project Superintendent
tbettcher@mcleancontracting.com
Mobile: (757) 651-6265
“Following a stumbled handoff with city staff turnover, a plan to install bicycle racks at six beach access locations on the Bayfront is back on track.”
Check out BAC July Baylines 2018:
Ownership of the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center has changed hands and will be rebranded as a Delta by Marriott after extensive renovations, Stacey Shiflet, a BAC member and executive in the family company that sold the hotel, reported.
Closing on the $19 million sale took place June 15, said Shiflet, who said she has been hired as a consultant during the transition. Some $25 million in renovations are planned.
DEQ responds to OPCL request for more info & a public hearing
View DEQ response. (2pg PDF)
Screen shot construction cam this morning about 9am #LESNERBRIDGE
Just sayin . . .
How to join SDCC for 2018
We’ve simplified our Membership Form 2018.
Click for Printable PDF
Join us Monday June 25th at 730p at Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad to drop off your form.
VB “received $10 million last week for the river’s restoration project, and it provided a 50 percent match, worth $5 million, as a condition of the funding”
Check out article at Pilotonline.com:
The area being restored is vital for a healthy water habitat, Forget said. It’s where many species spend the early period of their lifespan, and where animals lay eggs. The restoration will not only support aquatic life in Lynnhaven but also in the Chesapeake Bay and the ocean.
She said the restoration will also aid tourism, specifically the quickly growing sector of ecotourism, a major part of the Hampton Roads economy. With the changes, maybe another president will make a trip out for the oysters.
BAC Outreach meeting will be held on Thursday, June 21, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center
Mark your calendars !
June 7, 2018
Dear Community Representative:
Thank you again for expressing your willingness to participate in the Bayfront Advisory Commission’s Outreach ’18 communications initiative. Please bring your neighborhood’s most pressing concerns.
This spring’s Outreach meeting will be held on Thursday, June 21, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center. It will be in a second-floor meeting room yet to be assigned by the hotel but a lobby sign should direct you that day.
Although you are receiving direct word, this is a public meeting and will be legally advertised as such. If you have colleagues from other neighborhoods who had not signed up in advance, please notify them that they are welcome, too.
The purpose of this meeting is for the BAC to receive input from you about your most pressing concerns. The over-arching purpose is to assist the Commission with its priorities for the year ahead.
Commission members do not expect to be prepared to provide status updates other than what has officially come before the body. This is a listening meeting more than a telling meeting. But, every effort will be made to find out answers, to schedule future presentations, to connect you with the proper city entity or whatever else is possible to help you in your community.
Thank you again for your interest.
Regards,
Kal Kassir, Chairman
Bayfront Advisory Commission
May 24, 2018 correspondence from Map Environmental to DEQ & ACOE re: proposed Lesner Municipal Wharf and potential uses.
At an unspecified time in the future, the City of Virginia Beach may request to use the dredged material disposal site (landward of the wharf) as a dredged material transfer site for individual SSD dredging projects. The scope and timeline for such projects is unclear . . .
Note: Our understanding is DEQ is still looking for answers from City of Virginia Beach about more detailed info on each of the speific uses the city listed for the new wharf including frequency of trucks for DMTS, safety plan for truck access road, durations for mooring of boats, and more.
We strongly believe a public hearing with DEQ to allow the public to comment is appropriate considering the controversy and impact the industrial use of the wharf could have on the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility and the surrounding neighborhood including use of Shore Drive.
#LESNERBRIDGE update: “looks like we will move the eastbound traffic to the new bridge by the end of August 2018”
Email update today:
Citizens/Residents/Sunbathers/Sportspersons/Everybodyelse:
So you’ve got a great weekend to relax and enjoy the outdoors with the blue skies and great temps. You’ve stretched out in your beach chair, rubbed on the cocoa butter, put in the ear buds, grabbed an icy cold drink and NOW . . . you need something to read.
Well, you’re in luck. Just in time for your weekend, you have before you the missive commonly known as the Lesner Bridge Update . . . also popularly known as the Kingfish Chronicle or the Wojo Report . . . take your pick. In this edition, Kingfish enlightens us all with the latest work and accomplishments as we near the finish line.
While it may be somewhat briefer than past reports, he still finds a way to slip in some of that engineer lingo like “base and intermediate asphalt” and “subgrade on the east side” and “falsework for the gantry launch.” (I know . . . I’m getting goosebumps too!) It just doesn’t read the same when an English major knucklehead writes it.
Even better – just to show you Public Works knows how to economize – you can take this report, print it out and use it on the beach to swat the sand fleas and flies, and then dispose. “Multi-use” is our creed in the PW department . . . (as in – after I write this stuff I have to go empty the trash in everyone’s office and clean the windows . . . they’re “multi-using” me).
As always, we appreciate your questions and e-mails, so please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are regularly updating information on our WEB page at: http://www.vbgov.com/lesner-bridge. You can also follow us on Twitter at: @lesnerbridge.
If you haven’t already signed up for the City’s FB page or Twitter account, I encourage you to do so; that means you will receive timely updates from all things City-related and show that annoying friend who keeps running his yap about everything he THINKS he knows that you are far better informed than him.
If you know of someone who would like to be added to our update list, please have them get in touch with me at this e-mail address and I will be glad to add them – and please feel free to pass this along to others.
Thanks again for all of your interest and patience throughout this project.
Please . . . enjoy this weekend.
And don’t forget . . . stay safe, look out for each other, and put the daggone phone down while you’re driving – don’t make an LOL a DOA.
Drew Lankford
Media and Communications
Department of Public Works
City of Virginia Beachdlankfor@vbgov.com
(O) 757.385.8062
(C) 757.409.4353*****************************************
Folks:
Since the last update in March, McLean has completed construction of the EB bridge substructure, including Pier columns 8 and 9. They have also completed spans 5, 6, and 7 of the bridge superstructure and are currently working on span 8 (of 10). The new bridge fender system, including the navigational lighting has also been completed.
At the bridge approaches on both sides of the bridge, sidewalks have been placed, curb and gutter has been installed, painting of the retaining walls has been completed, and installation of the permanent handrailing is nearly complete. Base and intermediate asphalt pavement have been placed on the western bridge approach at East Stratford Road,and the subgrade on the east side of the bridge is being prepared for upcoming paving work near Vista Circle.
Multi-use Path Lighting of the new EB Lesner Bridge
Over the next two weeks, the bridge contractor will:
· Complete Span #8 of the eastbound bridge and launch the gantry to Span #9;
· Pave the eastern bridge approach and the intersection of Shore Drive and Vista Circle;
· Install falsework for the gantry launch at Pier #9;
· Install the expansion joint at Abutment A (near Lynnhaven Boat Ramps); and
· Continue to install bridge lighting systems.
View Looking West at completed Span #7 (right) of the new EB Lesner Bridge
At this point it looks like we will move the eastbound traffic to the new bridge by the end of August 2018. Once we complete this traffic switch, we will move to the westbound bridge to remove the temporary concrete barriers and fencing in order to build the 10-foot wide multi-use path. We are looking at total project completion by November 2018, including all street lighting and landscaping.
That’s it in a nutshell.
Thank You,
-Chris
Christopher J. Wojtowicz, PE
Engineering Construction Manager
City of Virginia Beach
Department of Public Works
Engineering Division
2405 Courthouse Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23456-9031
Office: (757) 385-5785
Fax: (757) 385-5668
Email: cwojtowi@vbgov.com
Film “Tidewater” and discussion at Brock
Third in our Conversations about Climate Change Series
June 14, 6:30 – 8:00 PM, Brock Environmental Center“What’s our plan? And how do we become a part of the solution?
We have the knowledge and the technology. How can we export good ideas to the rest
of the world?”The film Tidewater raises all of these issues and more. A terrific film about the challenges and opportunities that confront our region. How do we choose to move forward? Watch a trailer here: https://vimeo.com/213262018
Join us on June 14th to view the film followed by a facilitated discussion. Free and open to all, but please register at Office@LRNow.org or by calling, 757-962-5398.
STR discussed at City Council Informal session plus Virginian-Pilot coverage
View article at Pilotonline.com:
But leaders are making some progress on where to allow the practice, which has been popular for decades in Sandbridge and has recently become more common all over the city through websites like Airbnb.
This week, staff presented five areas in the city where homes could continue to be rented out for less than 30 days – as long as they follow regulations that leaders are still crafting.
Note: Tourism & short term rentals have been part of Virginia Beach culture for decades not only in Sandbridge but also in pretty much every neighborhood near water.
LMW documents from VB FOIA request by OPCL
Ocean Park Civic League asked for all the current docs about the Lesner Municipal Wharf & proposed ideas for it’s use.
Lesner Municipal Wharf FOIA Details from May2018. (30 page PDF)
Documents include:
ACTION ITEMS
1. The COE and DEQ will discuss internally and advise on the appropriate permit process for the modification and extension request.
2. The City/Consultant will reconnect w/COE and DEQ the week of April 9th for direction and clarity on the process.
3. The City/Consultant will expand efforts on the permit modification/extension and incorporate COE/DEQ input, as appropriate, for the next submission.UPDATE
Scharlene Floyd of the COE issued a permit extension on March 30, 2018 to extend the permit effective through May 13, 2022.
The bubbles are potential areas that are proposed to illustrate which neighborhoods might use certain transfer sites.
Route 35 HRT Bus Finder & flyer
Every 30 minutes from Pleasure House Road & Shore Drive to Rudee Inlet !
Click to visit HRT Bus Finder.
Click to visit official HRT Route 35 flyer.
Bayfront # 35 2017 Archive Page
From our original Bayfront # 35 page:
Archive below
Take Route 35 this summer?
October 1st ’17 was last day for this year.
We’re looking to help Virginia Beach & HRT expand it in ’18.Please Subscribe to The Advocate to stay up to date on news about Route 35 & all things Shore Drive.
Bayfront Shuttle Route 35 – Starting May 22, 2017, ride the VB Wave from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront to First Landing State Park, the North End beaches, and all the wonderful Bayfront restaurants on Shore Drive. From May 22 through Labor Day, VB Wave shuttles will run every 45 minutes from 8:00 a.m. to Midnight every day. Then from September 8 through October 1, VB Wave shuttle service will run from 8:00 a.m. to Midnight, but only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
This new shuttle route is a test run and will only become permanent if the ridership can support it. The test route was supported by the Shore Drive Community Coalition, First Landing State Park, Bayfront Advisory Committee, Resort Advisory Committee and the City Council. It has the potential to reduce parking problems along Shore Drive as well as at the Oceanfront. Locals can attend summer events and tourists can visit Shore Drive establishments without having to take a car and find parking which we all know is at a premium during the summer season.
It is our understanding that a quota of 10 trips per hour average is what will be needed to make the shuttle a permanent service. With a 16 hour service, that converts to 160 trips per day. So if you like the idea of this route, please use it and tell all your friends to use it also.
In an effort to help make riding this route as easy and stress-free as possible, volunteers have gathered and created the following documents. The information on these documents may not be 100% correct, but what do you want for free labor :)
If you have any comments regarding these documents or the shuttle service, please send an email to Todd Solomon at todd@sdcc.info
Route 35 – List of Stops in Table Format – This document lists all the stops on the route. Helpful details to know – Outbound = Artic/19th to Vista Circle to First Landing. Inbound = First Landing to Artic/19th Route 35 Stops and Times Rev.1
Route 35 – Map of Route – This map shows stops but doesn’t label all of them. Route 35 Bayfront Shuttle 2017 Map with Stops
Timetable for Shore Drive to Oceanfront Travel – This is the best image to use if you are traveling from Shore Drive to the Oceanfront. It will help you determine an estimated time to arrive at a stop to catch the bus to the oceanfront. You can also print the image below by Clicking Here
Fares to ride the new shuttle will cost the same as the current VB Wave route. $2.00 per normal trip. You can also purchase one day unlimited ride passes for $4.00, 3-Day passes for $8.00 and 7-Day passes for $20.00. Multi-ride passes can be purchased at 7-11 on Shore Drive & Red Tide or at Farm Fresh on Great Neck Road (go to the information counter to purchase). The clock on the multi-ride pass starts the day you first use it. So you can purchase them ahead of time or as gifts and they will not expire prior to use.
Additional information regarding HRT and how to ride can be found at www.gohrt.com
New Baylines issue includes Route 35 updates!
May Baylines 2018 (5 page PDF)
Shuttle Route 35 debuts May 20
A shuttle-bus linking the Bayfront and Oceanfront, with service every 30 minutes, launches Sunday, May 20. This represents an expansion of last summer’s pilot service, both in distance and frequency.
Fares are $2 each way for adults, $1 for seniors age 65+ and free for children under age 17 with a paying adult. Under 17 without a paying adult may ride for $1. Day passes, allowing unlimited rides on the route, sell for $4.50 for adults, $2.25 for seniors age 65+. Three-day, half-fare passes are also available.
Advance passes may be purchased at the following retail locations:
• Sunsations at 500, 812,1116, 1400, 2300, 2500, 3020 and 3300 Atlantic Avenue
• Virginia Gift Shop at 702, 1706 and 2412 Atlantic Avenue.
• Sports Alley at 2900 Atlantic Avenue
• Virginia Beach Visitors Bureau at 2100 Parks Avenue
• First Landing State Park Campground Visitor’s Center at 2500 Shore Drive and
• Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center at 2800 Shore Drive
Exact-change fares can be paid at each shuttle stop.“This is a great opportunity for residents to get to the Oceanfront” as well as for Oceanfront residents and visitors to sample Bayfront attractions, said Kal Kassir, chairman of the Bayfront Advisory Commission.
Last year’s pilot program stretched only between the Lesner Bridge and 19th Street and ran every 45 minutes. Ridership was high enough that the city and Hampton Roads Transit agreed to make it a permanent summertime route. Shortening the gap between buses to every 30 minutes and extending the route to allow passengers to connect more easily with other HRT routes should increase ridership, officials have said.
Route 35 will run daily through Labor Day. From Sept. 7-30, the bus will run Friday-Sunday only.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 