CHESAPEAKE, Va. — As Chesapeake grows, Hampton Roads Transit is following close behind.
“High-capacity transit has actually been identified in a lot of the city’s planning studies,” said HRT Development Director Sherri Dawson.
It’s the latest idea to make it easier for residents to get around the city and other parts of Hampton Roads. Dawson said her team embarked on the Connecting Chesapeake study to understand the best options for the community.
“There are opportunities to connect Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, Summit Point, South Norfolk to the City of Norfolk and as well as Virginia Beach,” she said.
HRT planning leaders started with 16 different alternative routes designed to connect Chesapeake residents to areas where the city is looking to grow. Now, they’ve narrowed it down to four different ideas and they’re working to get feedback from residents.
Wednesday morning, they set up a pop-up tent at the Chesapeake Farmer's Market by the health department to talk to Chesapeake neighbors.
“All the big cities use them,” said Chesapeake Resident Kay Schucker. “Why not us?”
“But it has to be simple and easy for people to use it," Chesapeake Resident Kay Schucker said. "People aren’t going to go out of their way to get on the bus.”
Dawson said the mode of transportation is important too.. and it’s still being discussed.
“So, we’ll be looking at either express bus, bus rapid transit which is similar to what Richmond has,” she said. “And then also, the light rail which we have in the City of Norfolk.”
Dawson said leaders hope to have one or two alternative options by early next year.
"We'll have the modes identified, what the ridership could potentially be and what the cost, it'll be planning level cost to construct these routes," Dawson said.
She said when the study wraps up, they hope to gain support from city council and move on to the next phase in this process.
HRT will hold two more events to get community input. The next one takes place Thursday at the Robert Hall Transfer Center. It starts at 1:30 pm. The last in-person opportunity will be August 24 at the Farmers Market at Chesapeake City Park. It will run from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. You can also weigh in through an online survey.