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RELATED: Shelters to open for residents as Hurricane Dorian approaches
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NORFOLK, Va. — Cities in Hampton Roads have begun opening parking garages and lots for residents ahead of Hurricane Dorian.
The City of Hampton: Residents who need to leave a car on high ground can use the city's only parking garage, located at 555 Settlers Landing Road downtown.
The City of Norfolk will open several downtown parking garages for residents who live in flood-prone areas.
UPDATE: Freemason and York Street garages are full.
The following downtown garages will open beginning Thursday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. Residents are not to park in reserved spaces and must remove their vehicles by noon on Saturday, Sept. 7.
- York Street Garage, 215 West York Street -- FULL, as of 10 p.m. Sept. 5
- Fountain Park Garage, 130 Bank Street
- Main Street Garage, 230 East Main Street
- Freemason Street Garage, 161 West Freemason Street -- FULL, as of 10 p.m. Sept. 5
- West Plume Street Garage, 135 West Plume Street
- Town Point Garage, 110 West Main Street
At 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5, all Old Dominion University parking garages will open to Norfolk residents. Please do not move or cross barricades.
The parking garages will close to Norfolk residents at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 9. At that time parking permit and meter payment requirements in campus parking facilities will resume as normal.
The city said it also removing all Pace bikes and Lime scooters Thursday evening.
The City of Portsmouth: Residents whose cars are in low-lying areas may park their cars in city garages until Monday, September 9th at 8 a.m. when they should be removed. City Garages are open at:
- County Street, 200 County Street
- Harbor Court, 2 Harbor Court
- Middle Street, 441 Middle Street
- Water Street, 550 Water Street
Please do not park in reserved spaces, and be sure to observe garage clearances. County Street Garage has a clearance of 7’; Harbor – 6’2; Middle Street – 6’10 and Water Street – 6’10.
The City of Virginia Beach: Emergency off-street parking will be available in Oceanfront and Town Center garages from 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5 through noon on Saturday, Sept. 7, depending upon weather conditions.
Virginia Beach citizens with proof of residence may park their vehicles for FREE at the municipal garages at 9th and 31st streets in the Resort Area. Exit time will be Saturday at noon or charges will begin. Based on weather conditions, the City may extend the exit date and times. Oceanfront parking is limited to 9th and 31st street parking garages only. Residents will be required to show a driver's license or a recent utility bill with their name and a Virginia Beach address as proof of residency for the free emergency parking.
Citizens may also park their vehicles at three Town Center garages:
- Maroon Garage (Dick's Sporting Goods) – 4621 Columbus Street
- Red Garage (Westin Hotel) – 4535 Commerce Street
- Green Garage (Armada-Hoffler Tower) – 222 Central Park Ave
No parking is available in the 24-hour reserved spaces, which are leased by residents. Towing will be enforced. Be advised that if the garages lose power, the lighting and elevators will be inoperable.
All surface parking lots at the Oceanfront owned by the city will be closed tonight (Thursday). They will reopen on Saturday or after the storm passes whichever is later.
- 19th (N) – 300 19th Street
- 19th (S) – 301 19th Street
- 4th – 306 4th Street
- Rudee Loop – 104 Atlantic Avenue
- 2nd – 145 Atlantic Avenue
- Croatan – 920 Vanderbilt Avenue
General Parking Rules
- Priority given to residents under mandatory evacuation, otherwise first come, first served
- No oversized vehicles or RVs
- No trailers or attachments
- Vehicles parking in reserved spaces are subject to towing
- No parking in the drive aisles or hashed out spaces
- No blocking other vehicles
- Vehicles parked beyond the emergency time are subject to towing
- No overnight camping or sleeping in vehicles
- Pets must not be left inside vehicles
- Park in one space onlyIf power is out, the elevators and lights will not be operable
The City of Williamsburg: The Prince George Parking Garage will open for free parking starting September 5, 2019 at 8 p.m. until September 6, 2019 at 8 p.m.
York County: The McReynolds Athletic Center (412 Sports Way) and Chisman Creek Park (1314 Wolf Trap Road) are available for the parking of vehicles, boats, RVs, etc.
Impacts from Hurricane Dorian
Norfolk is also preparing for impacts from Hurricane Dorian by cleaning storm drains and ditches to ease potential flooding.
Crews are on standby to respond to downed trees due to the wind. The city is asking residents to ensure curbs, gutters and ditches on their property are clear of debris. Be sure to secure any loose items in your yard to prevent damage during the storm.
Recycling, trash, bulk waste collection
In Norfolk, trash, recycling, and bulk waste collection will continue as scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5. On Friday, Sept. 6, trash, recycling and bulk waste collections will be suspended due to high winds and flooding risks.
Friday’s routes and bulk waste will be collected on Saturday, Sept. 7. Crews will remove all beach waste cans by 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4 and will replace them on Saturday, Sept. 7.
This schedule is subject to change, depending on Dorian’s speed and path.
In Portsmouth, all Friday trash collections are canceled and rescheduled for collection on Saturday. No bulk collections.
In Virginia Beach, Waste Management is suspending all trash and recycling collections on Friday. Instead, those collections have been rescheduled for Saturday.
In Williamsburg, recycling has moved collection one day next week. If collected on Monday, you will be collected on Tuesday, 09/10/19. If collected on Tuesday, you will be collected on Wednesday, 09/11/19. NO changes to garbage collection.
In York County, trash and recycling are suspended on Friday, September 6. Residents whose trash is normally collected on Friday should place their containers at the roadside by 7 a.m. Saturday. That includes already scheduled bulk collections. Because of the Labor Day holiday, recycling collections were already pushed back one day. Thursday’s collections scheduled for Friday will now be picked up on Saturday; Friday collections scheduled for Saturday will instead be collected Monday. Next week’s customers – Red Week – will see their pick up delayed by one day with collections completed on Saturday, September 14.
HRT Suspends Transit Service Friday
Hampton Roads Transit will suspend bus, ferry, light rail, and paratransit services all day Friday due to threatening conditions related to Hurricane Dorian.
Bus, light rail, and paratransit services will continue operating all day Thursday. Ferry service will cease operations at 4 p.m. Thursday in accordance with U.S. Coast Guard guidance. There will be a bus bridge from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. transporting passengers between Norfolk and Portsmouth. It will pick up in front of Waterside District in Norfolk and both Portsmouth ferry docks. After 6 p.m. customers will still have use of the bus route 45.
All HRT services are planned to resume normal operations beginning Saturday. This may change, however, if conditions do not allow for services to be restored safely.
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