2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report
Norfolk-Va Beach Joint Land Use Study
This Just In – data dump about $52M 1/2 mile Phase 4 at OPCL.org
Care what VB becomes? Join us!
6pm at The Hive in Town Center 4636 Columbus Street
Shore Drive gets shafted yet again. So far.
While OceanFront again secures infinite funding, the Bayfront Shuttle budget gets SLASHED IN HALF.
“Route 35 Bayfront – The frequency will be modified to operate every 60-minutes. Route 35 will not provide service to Parks Avenue/19th Street. Service will be streamlined along Pacific Avenue. Route 35 will service the Edgar Cayce A.R.E on 67th St.”
BAYFRONT SHUTTLE ROUTE 35 at HRT.
Thanks for update about moving sand from Lynnhaven Boat Ramp to Cape Henry Beach!
Regarding work hours and days per week, the contractor is allowed to work between 7:30am and 4:30pm Monday through Friday as per the City contract. Salmons will be working these hours and will be allowed, as necessary, to extend the work hours to 7:00am to 5:00pm. Should Salmons request to work on a Saturday, our office will take serious consideration as to how this request will affect the use of the Lynnhaven Municipal Boat Ramp, expected traffic along the Lesner Bridge corridor and on Cape Henry Beach. If the weather forecast for a given Saturday is for a non-boating/non-beach day (i.e., due to rainy weather or rough seas), then we will consider allowing Salmons to work. Salmons will not be working on Memorial Day weekend (i.e., Saturday through Monday) or on the July 4th holiday. Salmons may work up to a half day on Friday, May 26th.
Salmons has been notified to take all necessary precautions to protect the public from the project site during sand placement operations. Salmons is using orange construction fence to cordon off the work areas and the truck haul corridor along the beach. There will be openings in the construction fence to allow residence to access the beach in the areas where the contractor is not working. Signs will be posted at the openings cautioning the public that the beach is a construction zone. The contractor has been notified to have flaggers and other safety personnel at the Jade St beach access and on the beach to protect the public.
Public Works Engineering is excited as I know the Cape Henry Beach community are to begin the truck haul in a safe and expedient fashion.
There was fear the bayfront community wouldn’t receive the funding for this too but we got it!
Route 35 Bayfront – The frequency will be modified to operate every 60-minutes. Route 35 will not provide service to Parks Avenue/19th Street. Service will be streamlined along Pacific Avenue. Route 35 will service the Edgar Cayce A.R.E on 67th St.
Hopefully HRT will market Route 35 as it seems most people have no idea this terrific service exists.
Equitable safety improvements for cyclists & pedestrians like contiguous sidewalks & bike lanes are coming to Shore Drive!
Read the news here where Vice Mayor Jones was quoted:
“I think the council is committed to getting the improvements done[.]”
* Remember when the powers that be tried making Shore Drive 6 LANES in the 90s?!
Remarkably, the then named Shore Drive Advisory Committee(SDAC) heard the presentation from the Shore Drive Safety Task Force at their April 20th 2006 meeting.
Highlights:
Here is the entire report from the Shore Drive Safety Task Force from April 20 2006. [LOL CITY OF VB BROKE THAT LINK. AGAIN. CUZ NEW WEBSITE. 🤡]
SHORE DRIVE SAFETY TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL 2006. (PDF open in new tab)
SDAC, now named the Bayfront Advisory Commission(BAC) has their public meeting today at 330pm at the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad where they will be grappling with the news of yet another PROPOSED delay in upgrading circa 1950s infrastructure in the “Gateway to the OceanFront & Virginia Beach” while the OceanFront continuously receives virtually infinite money for almost every idea proposed there.
Not to bury the lede:
Shore Drive is a major east-west arterial in the northern portion of the City. The existing roadway carries 38,800 vehicles per day with a current capacity of 36,900 vehicles per day. Without this project, the roadway will continue to experience vehicular, bicyclist, and pedestrian safety incidents, and restrict traffic volume due to inadequate stormwater drainage.
🟢 The City Manager’s Proposed City Budget at VBGOV.com.
A few highlights of Proposed City Budget include:
Economic & Tourism Development
EV-22-0001 $200,000
Shore Drive Study Update
This project provides an update to the Shore Drive Corridor Plan (2000) and the Shore Drive Corridor Design Guidelines (2002). Flood mitigation strategies from the Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) for JEB Little Creek and JEB Fort Story (2019) as well as the bond referendum projects will be integrated into the update creating a broader, more comprehensive Shore Drive Plan. The Bayfront Advisory Commission will be utilized as a steering committee for the development of the update, public input, coordination, and engagement with the local community. The updated plan/guidelines will include: determination of existing conditions; development of a community wide public input survey; identification of issues and opportunities; development of specific land use recommendations by corridor segment; and development of architectural/landscaping/signage/public infrastructure guidelines.
To bury the other lede:
By the way, with this current proposal YOUR real estate taxes will probably jump over 10% based on recent new assessments.
The link for the new still being improved Capital Improvement Project (CIP) dashboard.
Be gentle though as it appears the new CIP Dashboard isn’t fully operational yet.
Here’s a link to a previous CIP Project Dashboard page: https://cipstatus.vbgov.com/ProjectDetail.aspx?id=4361.
Thanks to Hank for getting the info from Dan Adams!
Staff is hammering out final scheduling details on some pending Bay Beach projects, here is the skinny:
Cape Henry Beach – A truck haul is planned to haul the sand stockpile form the Lynnhaven Dredge Material Management area to west end of Cape Henry Beach by truck. Approximately 70,000 yards of sand will be placed along the beach starting at the Point Chesapeake Gazebo. Dune reconstruction will occur in front of the high-rise condos where dune erosion has been most severe. Bids have been received and contract execution is underway. Public Notices will be sent out in the coming days with specific project start and schedule information. Work should start around mid-March and run through late May. The Jade St. beach access will be closed and/or restricted during this work.
A larger placement of approximately 150,000-200,000 cubic yards of sand along Cape Henry Beach is planned to occur Winter 23/24 as part of the USACE dredging of the Lynnhaven Federal Channel. This will be hydraulic (pipeline)dredging and placement. This project is schedule to advertise for bids fall of this and be awarded and executed in early 2024.
Chesapeake Beach Restoration – This project is for the renourishment of Chesapeake Beach from Little Creek Amphibious Base to Baylake Beach. The first nourishment was completed in May 2018 placing approximately 350,000 cubic yards of sand from a nearshore shoal to reconstruct a severely eroded beach and dune system. A renourishment is anticipated every 4-5 years to re-establish the design template and add advance maintenance sand for anticipated erosion. This first re-nourishment cycle will utilize the same sand source as the initial respiration project in 2018 and will be placed hydraulically(pipeline). The renourishment project will be advertised for bids this spring. To incentivize the number of interested bidders, a period of performance of 300 days is provided to allow contractors sufficient time to schedule and plan the work. The actual duration of the project should be closer to 4-8 weeks. The exact construction schedule will be determined after bids are received. A public information meeting and communication to the neighborhood and civic leagues will occur. Current status: Plans are 100% complete, final staff review and Q/C is underway. Bid dates will be established in the next week or two.
Ocean Park Beach –A contract is being prepared for dune grass and sand fence installation as follow on to compliment the beach restoration work completed last spring. This work will occur in March. The next placement and source of sand for Ocean Park will most likely be the next cycle of dredging of the Lynnhaven Federal channel in 3-4 years. Method of sand transport is hydraulic(pipeline).
Please let us know if BAC has any other questions at this time. We will include them on any public notices issued for the pending Cape Henry truck haul and Chesapeake Beach project.
Thanks to Hank for the agenda.
PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
1) Encroachments discussion with Mr. LJ Hansen, Director of Public Works
Mark your calendar!
February 16, 2023, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Great Neck Recreation Center
2521 Shorehaven Drive, Virginia Beach
Councilmember Taylor will host a town hall meeting to update residents on current city projects and issues that impact District 8. City representatives from the Police, Fire, Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments will be in attendance to discuss topics such as stormwater referendum progress, Great Neck Park, traffic updates and more. Attendees will have an opportunity to have their questions addressed.
The meeting will be held in Rooms 1 and 2.
Historic and powerful! Strongly encourage you to watch in its entirety.
Hip hip hooray for more public engagement & transparency!
The survey is now available at publicinput.com/electricvehicle and will be open for comment through 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.
Although EVs have been available in the U.S. for more than a decade, over the course of 2022, the EV market experienced unprecedented growth. According to Automotive News, registrations for electric cars increased by 60% in the first quarter of 2022, despite the overall vehicle market being down 18%. With the federal government offering tax credits to incentivize the conversion to electric-fueled cars, automakers have been hard-pressed to keep pace with demand. Some areas with high EV adoption rates are also facing a public charging infrastructure beleaguered by insufficient stations according to an August 2022 study by J.D. Power.
As Virginia Beach looks forward and takes steps to prepare for the downstream effects of these transportation changes, the City wants to ensure that our community is prepared with the infrastructure necessary to support greater use of EVs.
To that end, Public Works has engaged a consultant, Cadmus, to conduct an EV and Charging Infrastructure Study and ultimately an EV Charging Infrastructure Plan that will serve as a roadmap to accommodate the anticipated needs of City residents, workforce members and visitors as we transition from conventionally fueled vehicles to EVs. It will include an analysis of our community’s needs, opportunities and challenges. The plan will also detail strategies for low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, communities with a low ratio of private parking spaces to households, and areas with a high ratio of multiunit dwellings to single-family homes. The final report will establish a vision, goals and clearly defined roles for the City, the private sector and the Virginia Beach community to implement strategies that facilitate increased deployment of EV charging infrastructure across the City in an equitable manner.
To receive a copy of the survey either via email or the US Postal Service, contact Nancy Bloom at 757-385-6279 or nbloom@vbgov.com. Completed surveys may be returned via email or mailed to:
Attn: Nancy Bloom
Virginia Beach Communications Office
2401 Courthouse Drive, Building 1, Suite 3054
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Join us on January 24th, 2023 from 4 to 7pm at the Brock Center 3663 Marlin Bay Dr
Learn more at Environmental Studies Program Event Page.
Start here to learn more about the spectacular ESP.
Bottom Line: Virginia does not have an easy or affordable pathway to dispose of unwanted vessels. This reality has led many vessel owners to abandon and/or sink their vessels in public waters creating a hazard to navigation, damaging marine ecosystems, and littering Virginia’s scenic landscape. Virginia has an opportunity to follow the examples set forth by Florida, Oregon, and California through establishment of a proactive Vessel Turn-In Program (VTIP), which would provide a subsidized removal pathway and increase responsible disposals…
From our friends at Vessel Disposal & Reuse Foundation.
VDRF Mission:
Help waterways achieve sustainable health through removal of Abandoned and Derelict Vessels, public outreach, and education.
In the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed:
The community with the BIGGEST LOSS was Virginia Beach, that state’s most populous city. It lost more than 1,700 acres — more than three times the next biggest decline.
Urban Forest most recent info at VBGov.com.
Thanks to Hank for providing the Agenda & the “Shore Drive section of the draft Commercial Area Pattern Book” update. “WPA is working on an updated draft and have told me they will send it over by next week, so hopefully I will be able to send you all an updated version of the document prior to BAC on Thursday.”
Commercial Area Pattern Book at VBGov.com. Several slides re: Shore Drive from draft PDF below.
Draft PDF including Shore Drive slides available here at VBGov.com.
Thanks to Public Works Director Lj Hansen, Senior Project Manager Dan Adams, City Manager Liaison Jonathan Torres, City Attorney Kay Wilson & Councilpersons Delceno Miles & John Moss, and OPCL President Danny Murphy for meeting with us Friday morning in the new Building One at the Municipal Center to work out the details of the Ordinance & User Agreement for private use of the LBR&BFDMTS.
We really appreciate the community engagement in this process!
Have any questions or comments?
Edit: Updated SOT added below.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 