HAMPTON ROADS RESTAURANTS BRACE FOR WINTER
$17 million project invites more nightlife in Va. Beach district
VIRGINIA BEACH — A $17 million street project at the Oceanfront is making the burgeoning ViBe Creative District a more welcoming place, thanks in part to the pandemic.
This past spring, amid canceled events and deserted streets, contractors plowed ahead to improve the 19th Street corridor between the convention center and the old dome site.
“When the world shut down, we went essentially full throttle,” said Denis Ozowara, the city’s project manager.
The improvements, particularly new street lighting and sidewalks, already are drawing more people to the ViBe’s restaurants and events after dark. The city installed 42 street lamps along 19th Street, a main artery of the ViBe district, as well as 8-foot sidewalks on both sides of the street.
“It makes it safer and easier to see when they’re out walking down the street,” said Kate Pittman, executive director of the ViBe.
ViBe business owners are pleased with the finished product, but it comes after months of headaches from the construction. The businesses, already losing money from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, dealt with power outages and torn up sidewalks outside their front doors.
Now that it’s done, they’re praising the results.
“They did a great job,” said Dwayne Appleton, owner of Java Surf Cafe & Espresso Bar at the corner of 19th Street and Mediterranean Avenue. “Seeing the street complete is definitely uplifting. It’s a single ray of sunshine in a bleak year.”
Sprucing up 19th Street was an idea conceived by the city years ago. The work finally began in 2018 so that it could be finished in time for the opening of the new Virginia Beach Sports Center, at the west end of the corridor. Plans to build a surf park and entertainment center at the east end of 19th Street, on the old dome site, are moving forward.
The project included burying overhead utilities under the ground from Parks to Arctic avenues. New storm drains were installed, and water and sewer lines were upgraded.
But the most noticeable aspects will help people navigate 19th Street. The widened road has one lane in each direction with an additional center turn lane, and on-street parking has been added. Meters will be installed later and enforced in April, Ozowara said.
Artistic elements have been worked into the street design. At the crosswalks, brick pavers were laid in a pattern, and new pillars painted by artists help identify the district.