ERC plans 100 tunnel closures by 2018

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY0 - More than 100 tunnel closures are scheduled in the next five years. The closures of the Downtown and Midtown tunnels are part of a rehabilitation project organized by Elizabeth River Crossings.

The work will start next October and finish in 2018.

This information is not new, but it was buried in pages of public documents released in December 2011. The first time the ERC publicized it was at a Norfolk city council meeting this month. ERC officials made the presentation at council's request.

Rehabilitation work is necessary at the Downtown and Midtown tubes. The tunnels will close only on weekends and only one direction at a time.

ERC officials estimate closures will be in effect about half of the weekends in the next five years.

"I see traffic just backed up all the way to Elm and in both directions," said Terry Danaher, a Portsmouth resident who organized the group Citizens Against Unfair Tolls. "Then that will tie up all the roads that cross over this road, Court Street, Effingham, we will just have a parking lot."

WAVY.com asked an ERC spokeperson if the ERC realizes how much the closures inconvenience people living in Portsmouth and others trying to get there.

In response, ERC spokeswoman Leila Rice writes: "One of our design principles outlined in our Comprehensive Agreement is to minimize tunnel closures as much as possible. Our goal is to deliver the project safely and on time."

There's no doubt the ERC learned from VDOT's mistake last weekend, when it closed two water crossings and caused a traffic nightmare. The ERC reports closures to VDOT to avoid that very problem. But some residents have already lost confidence in leadership.

"Given the planning they obviously did before, we have no dependence on having real kind of transportation going on here at all," said Danaher.

The city of Portsmouth has yet to request an update, which is why the ERC has not made a presentation.

The westbound lanes of the downtown tunnel will be the first to close.

Drivers can say goodbye to suspended ceilings, which will be replaced. New lights and jet fans will be installed. There will also be improvements you can't see such as added fire protection, concrete and electrical work.