The following is the first City update for the Lake Bradford-Chubb Lake Stormwater Improvement Project.  Lots of good information, sign up with the City for direct email if you are interested in following this topic.  SDCC will also post future updates on our website, so you can keep informed that way as well.

Click here to see the survey results document.  Lake Bradford – Chubb Lake – Survey Results – January 2020

Folks/Bradford-Chubb Project Followers:

For those of you who are somewhat new to following Public Works projects, you will find that we at VBPW believe very strongly in keeping the public informed and allowing 2-way communications. That means keeping you informed of how our projects are progressing, letting you know when we hit a snag or there is a change in plans, and whenever there will be traffic delays or traffic pattern changes. It’s robust work, but someone has to do it . . . and I volunteered because my boss told me to.

I can’t stress enough our belief in this concept, particularly in terms of hearing from you. We’ve learned from experience that the better-informed we keep you, the less chance there is of misinformation being passed around or needless anxiety. That’s why we have set up this specific email address for your questions and concerns. As Mr. Richardson, stormwater engineering savant and project manager for this explains below – you can contact us through this email address, you can go to our web page, or you can contact me. One way or another, we will get you an answer and the information you seek.

You’ll find as we continue to send out these updates that we try and keep it light as well as informative. We want you to have the information you need and the answers you seek . . . otherwise I have a lot of explaining to do to my boss.

As you can see, the email address to use is: lakebradford@vbgov.com. The esteemed Mr. Richardson has attached additional information in his section. Once we establish some social media contacts, I will pass them along to you as well.

Lastly . . . . as in this is the last thing I will mention – if you know of someone who should be included in these updates, or WANTS to be included, please pass this along to them, or send me their information and I will add them to the list.

We hope to set these up on a regular basis and I will let you know as we go along. I hope you will find the information helpful, and don’t hesitate to contact us if needed.

Enjoy what looks to be a great weekend weather wise and if possible, don’t cough on each other.
Stay safe!

Drew Lankford
Media and Communications
Department of Public Works
City of Virginia Beach

dlankfor@vbgov.com
(O) 757.385.8062
(C) 757.409.4353

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Folks:

As most of you know, Public Works – Stormwater Engineering held an open house/public meeting at the Bayside Recreation Center last November.

We organized the meeting because we wanted to hear from the residents as to what their concerns were and to get their help in identifying flooding locations in their neighborhood.

The meeting began with a presentation that provided some background and history of the Lake Bradford/Chubb Lake Drainage Study, along with reasons for the flooding and potential types of solutions.

After the presentation, attendees were directed to visit five stations that were set up around the room to gather different information. Of particular interest to the engineers was the station, “Flooding Locations/Surveys.” At this station, we encouraged everyone to mark areas of concern or known flooding on a map. They were also given a comment card to describe those concerns and the impact from the flooding in greater detail.

Prior to the meeting, we had developed an online survey for the public to take. We produced post cards with the survey link on the card to send to anyone who could not attend the meeting. That information was also given to the attendees, as well as the project’s web address – project’s webpage – where a link to the survey was available. Hard copies of the survey were also available at the meeting for those who preferred that method of input.

Much to our surprise – AND pleasure – we had over 100 people who participated in the survey. Thank you one and all who did – your input was very valuable in helping us understand your concerns about flooding and the impact on you. That kind of information is invaluable when developing our plans.

With the flooding locations map and the survey results, we were able to identify the problem areas and places of concern within the project area.
They included areas with known flooding problems in the neighborhoods of:
 Bayville Gardens
 Chesapeake Beach
 Chubb Lake Terrace
 Church Point
 Thoroughgood neighborhoods

Some of the roads identified as areas of concern or flooding during the survey include:
 Beaufort Avenue
 Brigadoon Drive
 Chubb Lake Avenue
 Hermitage Road
 Independence Boulevard (near the entrance to JEB LC)
 Lauderdale Avenue
 Lee Court
 Lookout Road
 Maycraft Road
 Northampton Boulevard
 Pleasure House Road
 Shore Drive

Not surprisingly, these areas and roads align almost perfectly with the areas we had identified in our stormwater model.

The results from the survey and the flooding locations map are attached, and a copy of the map is at the bottom of this email. You can also find a Summary of the Public Survey and Comments on our project’s webpage.

Since we met in November, the City and RK&K have continued to analyze the project area and develop a recommendation to help mitigate flooding. The analysis includes:
 Analyzing stormwater pipes and ditch capacities
 Rainfall and tide joint probabilities
 Sea level rise

One of our tasks now is to analyze each area within the project area with each of these possible scenarios.

As we all know, the public health crisis due to Covid-19 has scrambled all schedules, but IF things can work out, we hope to have another public meeting sometime this fall. If it doesn’t work out that we can meet as a group, we will look into some electronic options that may be possible.

Again, we want to thank each and every one of you who have participated in some way: attending the meeting, marking maps, taking the survey, emailing us your thoughts and comments, and all the other ways you have contributed. We feel strongly that this can be a very successful project with your suggestions and feedback.

Please contact us at lakebradford@vbgov.com with your comments and questions. Also, go to our website at http://www.vbgov.com/lakebradford for updated information.

If you have any pictures of flooding, please email them to stormpics@vbgov.com. Please include the location, date, and time the picture was taken.

Again, thank you for your participation in this project and we look forward to continue working with all of you. Please stay safe during this difficult time.

Matthew Richardson, Project Manager
Lake Bradford / Chubb Lake Drainage Study (CIP #7-053).
Public Works – Engineering
757-385 -4131