VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Virginia Beach City Council members denied a motion to stop a controversial proposal that would affect traffic along a major roadway at the Oceanfront.
The proposal would allow developer Bruce Thompson to turn Atlantic Avenue near 40th Street by the new Cavalier Hotel into a cul-de-sac, meaning drivers would have to connect between Atlantic and Pacific through 39th and 40th Streets. City Manager Dave Hansen wrote in a letter that the cul-de-sac would help with traffic in the area.
Related: What will happen to proposed cul-de-sac on Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach?
Tuesday night, council members voted 3-7 to deny the motion that would put a halt to Thompson’s project.
Councilman John Moss said Thompson can go ahead with the project because city council essentially had already authorized it with the stipulation that someone – not the city – would pay for it. In June, Moss and Councilwoman Jessica Abbott introduced a resolution that will direct the city to withdraw a request to get state funding for the cul-de-sac.
“While I applaud the idea of a developer footing their own bill, I believe that due to the feedback I have received from my constituents that this change to Atlantic Avenue would not be in the best interests of the City or its residents,” Abbott wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “Our public roads belong to all of us and should not be reconfigured entirely for the comfort of a developer.”
