Driving through Virginia Beach during a rainstorm can sometimes feel like driving through a river. High water levels and poor drainage contributes to car accidents and major hydroplaning for drivers. Located at sea level, Virginia Beach struggles when it rains because there is nowhere for the water to runoff. City officials at Virginia Beach public works are in the process of constructing a drainage outfall that will help with draining at the north end of Virginia Beach. This project has seen its share of controversy, with community members seeking to block its progress. The drainage system project began in late 2009 and is set to finish in 2011.
Click Below to look at the official Storm Drainage Outfall Map
Web Map rev Flood Map 03-25-10 copy
There are a many different phases of this project, which begins on land and is finished off the coast of Virginia Beach in the Atlantic Ocean. Dan Adams, project manager at Virginia Beach Public Works, explains the drainage system as a pipe system, which will filter storm water out into the ocean instead of into the roads, causing flooding. He also explained how once the landside of the project is finished, divers would be laying pipes into the ocean floor and connecting them with the system built on land. The project required a barge, for bringing in the heavy materials, landing right on the beach for unloading. If the barge had not been able to deliver the materials, wide load trucks would have been required to drive the materials to the site. This would have taken long amounts of time for the delivery as well as numerous cranes to unload the heavy materials. The project is still in the land phase, which includes placing piping in the ground and creating a pump station at 61st street. The 61st street drainage outfall is not the first drainage project constructed at Virginia Beach. There have been similar construction projects on 42nd street as well as 79th street. The current state of the project has caused lane closures on Atlantic Avenue, a major roadway in the beach area. Problems and complaints with the project are common and will most likely continue during the summer months.
Click Below to Listen to Project Manager, Dan Adams further explain the drainage outfall project.
The North Virginia Beach Civic League has supported the project for over 10 years according to their president, Kimberly Goolde. There are a few community members, however who are taking their complaints to court. They fear that the project will pollute their beach as well as the ocean environment. The project has been on the books for years, but some neighbors feel as though they were not well informed. Kevin Martingayle, who is the attorney representing those who oppose the project, describes how project information was relayed through the North Virginia Beach Civic League.
“ The city seems to think that relaying information through a civic league is good enough, but it’s not. Some people do not like to go to civic meetings and they should not have to.”
Martingayle took on the case due to the fact that the project is 5 houses from his home and he wanted to be the voice for his family and neighbors. The community members that Martingayle represents feel as though the pump would pollute the area bringing highly polluted storm water into the ocean thus washing it to the shoreline. Martingayle suggests that the water could possibly contain oil, grease, fertilizers and dog feces. Other pump systems such as the ones on 16th and 42nd street have not functioned properly according to Martingayle.
To combat negative press the Virginia Beach public works have had meetings through the North Virginia Beach Civic League to allow neighbors to voice their concerns. The 61st street drainage outfall project also has a filter that will be in place to treat the water, which will make the storm water clean. The storm water will be pumped 1,200 feet from the primary sand dune.
The construction project itself is going well according to Dan Adams, who said that summer traffic would not be made worse by the project. The construction has caused some Virginia Beach residents to rearrange their daily routines. Katherine Marsh, a North End resident, walks each morning and has found the construction difficult to maneuver around, saying “ I have had to change the route I walk and sometimes I choose to take alternate routes in my car so I don’t have to go through the construction site.”
Click Below to listen to Katherine Marsh, who lives near the construction.
There are definitely mixed feelings when it comes to the 61st street drainage project. The construction has continued, as some neighbors fight the progress in court. Community members still have another year of construction before its scheduled completion. The project will help prevent flooding in the area as long as neighbors continue being tolerant of the inconvenience.
