The bridge sketch migrates to Richmond

You may remember the story of Walter Grantz, the local engineer who helped design the original Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and various other crossings in the region.

Grantz became a part of the local transportation debate when he took a hypothetical bridge soaring over the HRBT and went ahead and sketched out a detailed version. Grantz used aerial photos and navigational depth charts to get a realistic idea of whether a bridge could really be built linking Hampton with Norfolk. If you missed the initial profile click here.

The primary benefit would be the ability to add four travel lanes between the Peninsula and south Hampton Roads and smooth out the region's worst bottleneck. Bridges are also apparently a cheaper alternative and the bridge could potentially be built within the right-of-way so no homes in Norfolk would have to be destroyed. Obviously the main hurdles would be getting the Navy to go along with the idea - aircraft carrier clearance and such - and finding a way to pay for the plan.

So far Del. G. Glenn Oder, R-Newport News, is running with the idea as lawmakers gear up for a special session on transportation. Oder's move makes sense because it gets transportation discussions going in the public because it's a totally new idea and also focuses attention on the Peninsula's headaches while simultaneously drawing attention away from the vaunted third crossing.

Well, Oder brought Grantz's drawing to the floor of the House of Delegates today and has it set up in the lawmakers lounge so that legislators from across the state can get a look at the idea. Grantz wasn't real interested in getting involved on the political side - guess that's out the window huh?