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<br />R-13-45 <br /> <br />A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE CITY'S APPLICATION TO THE <br />VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT A TION'S TRANSPORTATION <br />AL TERNA TIVES PROGRAM FOR THE RAIL TO TRAIL CONVERSION OF <br />THE FORMER COMMONWEALTH RAILWAY TRACK RIGHT-OF-WAY IN <br />THE CITY. <br /> <br />WHEREAS, The Commonwealth Railway Mainline Safety Relocation Project, <br />completed in 2010, moved rail operations from neighborhoods of Portsmouth and <br />Chesapeake to the median of Route 164; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, as part of the relocation of the Commonwealth Railway rail <br />operations, the Virginia Port Authority (VP A) acquired 1.82 miles of abandoned track <br />and right-of-way in Portsmouth that extends northwest from the city line on High Street <br />to the intersection of Old Coast Guard Blvd. with West Norfolk Road; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, VP A's Portsmouth portion is part of the envisioned 41-mile South <br />Hampton Roads Trail between Suffolk and Virginia Beach; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the cost of the Portsmouth portion of the Trail has been estimated <br />conservatively at $1 million; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the conversion of the former railway right-of-way into a trail will <br />provide the citizens of Churchland with both a linear park and an alternative <br />transportation facility, as well as increasing property values and boosting economic <br />development; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, funding is available for the proposed trail through the Virginia <br />Department of Transportation's competitive Transportation Alternatives Program. <br /> <br />NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of <br />Portsmouth, Virginia that it hereby endorses the proposed conversion of the former <br />Commonwealth Railway right-of-way to a trail for use by the public as an alternative <br />transportation facility and a linear recreational facility. <br /> <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City's application for project funding <br />under the Virginia Department of Transportation's Transportation Alternatives Program <br />is approved, and that City Manager is directed to make application and take all other <br />actions necessary for funding under said Program. <br /> <br />ADOPTED by the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia at a meeting held <br />on September 24,2013. <br /> <br />Teste: <br /> <br />City Clerk <br />