by travelrobb
Looks like officials in Hampton Roads are split over whether "high speed" rail should go through Williamsburg to Newport News (the Peninsula Route) or on the south side of the James River, to Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach:
"Schism grows over regional high-speed rail route"
But fear not: local congressman say there's enough money for both projects!
"For region's high-speed rail, lawmakers want both routes"
Apparently, the present cost for building the south side alternative with a MAS of 90 mph* is $475 million, while the Peninsula option would cost $330 million--up quite a bit from the 2005 costs of approximately $185-$195 million each. (The original south side estimate didn't include costs from Richmond to the junction just east of Petersburg; presumably the current estimate does.)
My preferred alternative is the third choice, which would use the Peninsula Route to Newport News, and then build a four-mile bridge across the James River to connect it to Norfolk. In 2005, this was estimated to cost $600 million (for a 90 MPH MAS), or half again as much as doing both alignments simultaneously. But the bridge would have a major additional benefit of serving as a foundation for a commuter rail system to serve the sprawling Hampton Roads area.
*The costs for building a 110-mph alignment rose in 2005 to as much as $239 million for the south side (Petersburg to Norfolk only) and $252 for the Peninsula Route. (Although this is confusing because the study uses two different sets of numbers for pricing most of the alternatives; these are the higher ones.) The faster alignment would save seven and six minutes, respectively.
"Schism grows over regional high-speed rail route"
But fear not: local congressman say there's enough money for both projects!
"For region's high-speed rail, lawmakers want both routes"
Apparently, the present cost for building the south side alternative with a MAS of 90 mph* is $475 million, while the Peninsula option would cost $330 million--up quite a bit from the 2005 costs of approximately $185-$195 million each. (The original south side estimate didn't include costs from Richmond to the junction just east of Petersburg; presumably the current estimate does.)
My preferred alternative is the third choice, which would use the Peninsula Route to Newport News, and then build a four-mile bridge across the James River to connect it to Norfolk. In 2005, this was estimated to cost $600 million (for a 90 MPH MAS), or half again as much as doing both alignments simultaneously. But the bridge would have a major additional benefit of serving as a foundation for a commuter rail system to serve the sprawling Hampton Roads area.
*The costs for building a 110-mph alignment rose in 2005 to as much as $239 million for the south side (Petersburg to Norfolk only) and $252 for the Peninsula Route. (Although this is confusing because the study uses two different sets of numbers for pricing most of the alternatives; these are the higher ones.) The faster alignment would save seven and six minutes, respectively.