Wards Corner Now – Wards Corner, Norfolk, Virginia

City Manager Marcus Jones presented his 2015 City Budget last night to City Council.  It is a whopping 652 pages.  You can view it on the City of Norfolk website here.  I have also put a copy on Wards Corner Now’s servers for download (17MB, PDF).

The following are sections of the budget that I found to related to the greater Wards Corner area:

Terminal Blvd

Repair Terminal Blvd. Concrete Pavement. (page 493)
Project Description:  Provide funds to rehabilitate failing concrete pavement along Terminal Blvd. The roadway consists of a reinforced concrete surface that was built by Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in 1973. It carries over 6,000 trucks in each direction daily. The total cost to repair the road by replacing sections of concrete is estimated at $7.0 million, $3.5 million for each side of the road. This project is partially funded through the VDOT revenue sharing program at 50 percent of the total project cost.

This budget proposes  $1,750,000 in 2015 and $1,750,000 in the 2016 budget.

Implement Wards Corner Neighborhood Plan (NP) (page 531)
Project Description:  Provide funds to support activities outlined in the Wards Corner Neighborhood Plan. Funding for this project also supports land acquisition, infrastructure improvements, and redevelopment initiatives that allow the strategic revitalization of the area in accordance with the Wards Corner Neighborhood Plan. Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA) will provide support to this project in an effort to meet the goals of the Wards Corner Neighborhood Plan.

Marcus proposes $1 million in this 2015 budget for the Wards Corner plan.  We can assume that this money will go to the continued efforts to purchase and remove the blighted properties in and around Denby Park.

Prior year budget allocations:
2010: $1,010,000
2011: $1,767,500
2012: $1,000,000
2013: $1,000,000
2014: $1,000,000

Coming soon: A new Granby Street bridge?

Repair and Replace Bridges – Major (page 495)
Project Description: Provide funds for the replacement, repair, upgrade, or demolition of key bridge structures that are in significant stages of deterioration. FY 2015 funding will be used for the replacement of Pescara Creek Culvert, Spotico Creek Culvert, design of Granby Street Bridge  over Lafayette River, and the rehabilitation of the Botetourt Street Pedestrian Bridge

This proposed budget allocates $1,000,000 to the above bridge repair and replacement.  Included in that allocation is money for the design of a (new?) Granby Street Bridge.

The current span was built in 1979.  It is 992.1 feet long and handles about 30,000 vehicles per day.  It was last inspected by VDOT in October of 2012 at which time the deck condition was rated as Satisfactory and the Super & Sub conditions were Fair.