Laskin Road project raises concerns

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - In just a few days, drivers in Virginia Beach will see some big road closures and many area residents and business owners are not happy.

It's part of the Laskin Road Gateway project, in which Arctic Avenue between Laskin Road and 32nd Street will be closed Tuesday until the end of the year.

Crews will replace water and sewer lines, storm drains and overhead utility lines in the area.

North End Bikes is located in that block and manager Jeff Lopez is concerned about parking out front.

"It's going to be a hamper to our business. There's more than one way to get to our store. A lot of our customers ride bikes," Lopez said.

Next door to Lopez's bike shop is Linda Smith at Oceanfront Barber Shop. She says she's already alerted her driving clients.

"We've already told the people we've done this week how to come in to see us. They can pull up behind Frankie's. We're going to have a parking area in there where they can pull up behind the shop," she said.

"It'll be sequenced. It will not all be impacted at once. Portions of it will be closed. There'll be detour or routing signs, variable message boards.... Portions will be closed approximately three to four months then open back up again," Virginia Beach Strategic Growth Areas Manager Barry Frankenfield told WAVY.com.

At an informational meeting, residents got an up-close look at artist renderings of the $28 million, pedestrian-friendly Laskin Road Gateway project. It features retail, restaurants and living spaces. But people who live here now think it will create future traffic jams.

Ted Davis of the Linkhorn Park Civic League stood up on a chair to make his point. Davis said he doesn't think the project takes homeowners into consideration.

"We're going to have to put up with a traffic mess for about three years. There's no doubt about that. Some of that is infrastructure we don't mind that, but the final plan does not consider how we're going to get to our homes," he said.

He feels there should have been more public input into the project.

A city spokesman says other informational sessions on the Laskin Road Gateway project are planned.