For those who are new to the area (or who have been under a rock), a little bit of history: the Southeastern Parkway/Expressway has been in the "works" for over 20 years. The plan is for a 21 mile tool road connecting Virginia Beach and Chespeake.
It appears it will not come to fruition in my lifetime.
The major obstacle for the plan has been the environmental impact of the parkway. The proposed road stretches over wetlands; a large portion of the landscape in Southeastern Virginia.
After discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration recently voided the "prior concurrence" of the environmental impact statement for the Parkway.
It's just another "bump in the road" for the Parkway that will now cost over $2 billion to build and has no set source of funding. The EPA has shot the project down 3 times: 1989, 1994 and 2005; citing the negative wetlands impact outweighs the traffic benefits. The project could destroy 170 acres of wetlands.
At a meeting this past Thursday, officials from the Federal Highway Administration offered to pay for mediation between the cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake and the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers.
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Tina Merritt and Assoc. can be reached at email: tina@tinamerritt.com or 757-287-6338.
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