Light rail study, bus station approved

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Norfolk City Council voted in favor of a bus station facility downtown as well as extending a light rail extension study.

The light rail resolution means Hampton Roads Transit has been approved to initiate studies of light rail extension stations, including destinations in Virginia Beach and Naval Station Norfolk.

The Downtown Plaza site has been approved as a bus transfer site for HRT. The Cedar Grove lot has been used as the temporary bus transfer site since 2008. With the Downtown Plaza approval, the City of Norfolk will begin designing and developing the facility. The budget for design, construction and interim facilities are projected to be between $4 and $5.5 million.

Click here for more information on the bus transfer facility.

The presentation indicated the planning stage for the project would last through July 2013, with construction starting in October 2013 and ending in December 2014.

Virginia Beach residents will vote Nov. 6 on a referendum to extend light rail to the beach.