MAYORS PUSH FOR MONEY FOR MILITARY HIGHWAY PLAN [Virginian – Pilot]

Recently Mayor Paul Fraim penned a letter with Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms urging Gov. Bob McDonnell to intervene and restore funding for the $113 millionMilitary Highway project.

Fraim was deeply troubled that uncertain funding could jeopardize a local company's expansion plans for Norfolk. Amerigroup, a health insurer based in Virginia Beach, announced in May that it plans to relocate an estimated 1,100 jobs to the city in the next three years. They plan to move to the former regional headquarters of United Services Automobile Association.

Fraim and Sessom's letter stated that they were concerned that the state's decision to remove $54 million away from the long- awaited Military Highway widening project had put the Amerigroup jobs in limbo. Their letter described the project as an "absolutely critical transportation improvement project."

"As a result of the CTB's decision and with no certainty that any meaningful progress would be achieved, we understand current negotiations to bring approximately 1,100 good paying jobs to this location have been stalled," the letter says. The significance of this corridor, the letter adds, "cannot be overstated."

An Amerigroup Corp. spokeswoman, Maureen McDonnell, declined to comment on the status of the company's expansion into Norfolk.

However, according to two members of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the money that was removed from the project won't result in any delay to the planned work.

The project, which was conceived in 1985, is still in the design phase.

Aubrey Layne Jr., who represents the Hampton Roads District on the board, said the state is no longer setting money aside for projects that aren't ready for actual construction.

"That's just not the way we're doing business anymore," Layne said. "We moved monies around to keep the construction going."

Layne and Sheppard Miller III, who serves as an at-large member on the board, said he is "extremely confident that the money will be there when the money is needed," keeping the project on schedule.

"That project is very important. Everybody knows the significance of it," Layne said.

Fraim now says he's comfortable that the project will get funding when it's ready for construction. His concerns about Amerigroup's plans have also been assuaged, he said recently.

But it will take more than assurances from the state to encourage resident Dee Monaco, who said the project has turned her into a skeptic. Monaco moved to the Lake Taylor neighborhood in 1989, and she's been hearing about the Military Highway widening ever since.

"It's like holding a carrot in front of a horse and saying, 'Look at what we have,'" said Monaco, who is president of the civic league. "You get the people all excited about it and then the carrot gets pulled away. They've been doing that for the last 20 years."

The project has been broken down into three sections: Lowery Road, Robin Hood Road and the old Lansdale Circle area at the Northampton intersection.

Together, they comprise the northern part of a state highway that sees an average of 50,000 vehicles a day. If completed on schedule, Norfolk could have the first continuous flow intersection in south Hampton Roads, which should mean less time sitting at red lights for motorists.

Jillian Nolin, 757-446-2326,jillian.nolin@pilotonline.com