Rail Service Still A Dream? (Norfolk, Richmond: oceanfront, crime, house)

[roanoker 4]

Originally Posted by cityboi757

The VRE is only feasible because of the population densities throughout Northern Virginia.What the hell would the Transdominion Express be needed for? It will never be feasible. Not enough people would ride, and would have no reason to. What kind of traffic is in Roanoke or Bristol? Absolutely none. NoVa to Richmond to HR are priority.

You are forgetting the 50,000 college students who inhabit the Blacksburg/Roanoke area, prime candidates for rail travel. Many of these students live in NoVa.

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

You are forgetting the 50,000 college students who inhabit the Blacksburg/Roanoke area, prime candidates for rail travel. Many of these students live in NoVa.

Agreed, but most of the parents up here have enough $ for the kids to buy a vehicle.

[cityboi757]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

You are forgetting the 50,000 college students who inhabit the Blacksburg/Roanoke area, prime candidates for rail travel. Many of these students live in NoVa.

A bus could take care of that.

[cityboi757]

The VRE is only needed in Northern Va becasue of the traffic on 95 heading into the city.. I- 81 barely has any traffic

[roanoker 4]

Originally Posted by cityboi757

The VRE is only needed in Northern Va becasue of the traffic on 95 heading into the city.. I- 81 barely has any traffic

You obviously have never been to Roanoke or driven on I-81 lately.

[cityboi757]

I've never been to Roanoke, but I've driven on I -81 from the I -64 interchange to Winchester.. No traffic.. Compared to D.C., Richmond, Or H.R.? No traffic. Roanoke is a city of 90,000. How much traffic could there be?

[roanoker 4]

I didn't think Hampton Roads even had rail service so why would VRE go all the way down there either? I guess like the rest of us who goes to HR if they don't have to? After all HR was left out of the planning for I-95 North/South and US460 is nothing but stop lights. It must just be a dead end road destination.

[cityboi757]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

I didn't think Hampton Roads even had rail service so why would VRE go all the way down there either? I guess like the rest of us who goes to HR if they don't have to? After all HR was left out of the planning for I-95 North/South and US460 is nothing but stop lights. It must just be a dead end road destination.

Hampton Roads is #1 in the state for tourism buddy. Plenty of people come here.. What's Roanoke 1st in? Hampton Roads has Amtrak service, light rail, and an extensive bus system. Sure, I-95 skipped us, geography screwed us, not our economic importance. HR is the 5th biggest metro in the southeast, Virginia Beach is the 7th biggest city in the southeast. Hampton Roads has the three biggest cities in the state. Virginia Bech, Norfolk, Chesapeake. US 460 is a direct route to the capital and I can get there in 90 minutes even with the stoplights.. WIth the largest military installation and huge concentration of federal jobs, there's much more demand for rail connecting hampton roads and d.c then d.c. and roanoke.

[roanoker 4]

Roanoke City is a small compact city of 90,000 of only 44 sq miles. The urban Roanoke County which encircles it and the metro area have 300,000 people. The size of HR is huge in land area, thus in greater population. The adjacent metro area is Blacksburg at 150,000 and Lynchburg at 250,000. So the true area population is around 700,000. Va's population formula is very misleading when people talk about Roanoke. Because of the mountains and valleys the land is not flat like HR and roads and transportation is a big issue. There are many winding dangerous roads and the issues are nothing like HR, NoVa or Richmond where the land is flat and new roads can be built. The Roanoke and New River Valleys are all built up now so I don't see where any new roads will ever be built(unless they dig through a mountain)..highly unlikely. We have got to look to rail. The only similarity Roanoke has to HR is their distance. There could never be two places so different. I can't believe they are in the same state.

[cityboi757]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

Roanoke City is a small compact city of 90,000 of only 44 sq miles. The urban Roanoke County which encircles it and the metro area have 300,000 people. The size of HR is huge in land area, thus in greater population. The adjacent metro area is Blacksburg at 150,000 and Lynchburg at 250,000. So the true area population is around 700,000. Va's population formula is very misleading when people talk about Roanoke. Because of the mountains and valleys the land is not flat like HR and roads and transportation is a big issue. There are many winding dangerous roads and the issues are nothing like HR, NoVa or Richmond where the land is flat and new roads can be built. The Roanoke and New River Valleys are all built up now so I don't see where any new roads will ever be built(unless they dig through a mountain)..highly unlikely. We have got to look to rail. The only similarity Roanoke has to HR is their distance. There could never be two places so different. I can't believe they are in the same state.

And you don't think Norfolk isn't dense? Or Newport News? Or Portsmouth?

Norfolk has 240,000 in 53 sq. miles.. 3 times as dense as Roanoke. There's no comparsion between Hampton Roads and Roanoke, your right.. The population of HR in the summertime is over 2 million. Roanoke really isn't important to Virginia's economy and all I'm saying is Hampton Roads is a much bigger metro with a much bigger demand for rail.. Can you really deny that? You really think more people from NoVa and D.C. would ride to Roanoke then Hampton Roads? HR has the federal jobs, military, tourists, conventioners, beachgoers, corporations, etc. No comparion. We need rail more then you. Traffic crossing the Hampton Roads harbor is backed up 7 miles 24 - 7. Why do you think Hampton Roads has built the commonwealth's first light rail system?