Norfolk Car Accident Attorney Report – Meetings to be Held Over Road Improvements

By John Cooper, Portsmouth Car Accident Injury Attorney

Proposed tolls on the Downtown Tunnel and the Midtown Tunnel linking Norfolk with Portsmouth, VA are already proving controversial.

But more improvements are planned in Hampton Roads, which will likely also have to be paid for by tolls levied on drivers.

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization is hosting a series of public meetings on proposed road improvements to the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) linking Hampton and Norfolk and the widening of Interstate 64 on the Virginia Peninsula.

Meetings have also been held on the Patriots Crossing improvement which would connect Interstate 564 in Norfolk, VA to the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and the Western Freeway/Va. 164 in Portsmouth, near Churchland.

As accident injury attorneys in Norfolk, VA, we are keen to see improvements to these congested routes which are a major cause of lost hours and accidents. Recently the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization revealed they will be buying data from INRIX, a Texas-based traffic management consulting firm, to obtain real time information on travel times and traffic speed, to give the authorities a better idea of the extent of the congestion problem.

While there is little disagreement that congestion is getting worse, the current toll proposals would likely hurt local businesses and residents.

The tolls on the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels that are slated for the end of 2012 would help fund a $2.1 billion project that would include a second Midtown tube, along with significant improvements to the Downtown and Midtown tunnels, and the extension of the Martin Luther King Freeway.

But ever since a contract was signed for the construction project in early 2012 there has been a public outcry centered on Portsmouth and Norfolk, leading to speculation the tolls may be delayed.

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The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries.  John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims.  Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010.  Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us at (757) 455 -0077 or contact us through this website.