Members of the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC) and Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) attended an April 25th event with Governor Ralph Northam to announce agreements for the $3.8 billion expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.  HRTAC and HRPDC Chair Michael Hipple and HRTPO Chair Thomas Shepperd join Governor Northam in this photo from the event.

The Executive Director attended the 2019 State of the Port Luncheon on April 12th in Norfolk.

The Executive Director and staff hosted a regional legislative liaisons meeting on April 15th to discuss the recently completed General Assembly session and begin discussions on potential topics and issues in preparation for the upcoming 2020 session.

Members of the HRPDC and HRTPO staff participated in an Earth Day Clean Up event on May 3rd.

The Executive Director and HRTPO Deputy Executive Director attended a Virginia Department of Transportation Public Hearing on April 15th in Suffolk to provide input on the proposed Six Year Improvement Program.  This testimony centered on the importance of SMART SCALE funding for the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) project.  The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) is expected to issue final approval for $200 million of SMART SCALE funding for the HRBT project at the CTB’s June meeting.

The HRPDC/HRTPO Personnel and Budget Committee met on April 18th to review the draft FY2020 budget proposal.

Several HRPDC staff members participated in a Resilience Forum hosted at the Brock Center in Virginia Beach on April 19th. 

The Executive Director and HRPDC Deputy Executive Director attended the Norfolk State of the City Address on April 19th.

On April 22nd, the Executive Director hosted a meeting of Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) management and CAOs from HRT localities to discuss an update on the HRT Transformational Transit planning effort.

The Executive Director attended the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) Region 2 Meeting on April 23rd in York County.

The HRPDC continues to coordinate the Regional Broadband Initiative.  The goal of this effort is to develop a phased approach to a regional fiber network that connects to the transatlantic broadband cables that have landed in Virginia Beach, and to utilize this fiber network as an economic development opportunity.  The Regional Broadband Steering Committee has formed three work groups that are being supported by HRPDC staff to advance this effort.  The work of each group includes the following:

• The Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from the five Southside cities have finalized the Master Plan and 30% Design Work for the Southside Fiber Ring.  This design work has established a consensus on the routing/location for the Southside Fiber Ring.

• The five Southside cities have agreed to jointly fund the final construction design work for the Southside Fiber Ring.  The CIO Working Group is developing a scope of work for this final design effort that will be used by the HRPDC to request proposals from qualified firms to complete this work.

• The Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) from the five Southside cities and their legal staffs are working to develop a governance structure to oversee the Southside Fiber Ring.  This governance structure will be created in a manner that allows additional localities to join this effort as the fiber network extends to the Peninsula.

• Representatives from the Southside cities continue to advocate with State officials on the importance of the proposed fiber network to economic development opportunities in Hampton Roads.  These efforts resulted in information being shared with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership who recently promoted the region’s fiber network plans at a conference in California.

The Policy Committee for the Norfolk/Virginia Beach Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) met on April 25th at the Regional Building to receive a briefing on the draft JLUS report and recommendations.  Representatives from Norfolk, Virginia Beach and the military attended and participated in this discussion.

The Regional Connectors Study Steering Committee met on April 30th at the Chesapeake Public Safety Operations Center.

HRPDC staff hosted the Regional Planning Directors meeting on April 30th at the Regional Building.

The Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director attended the Chesapeake State of the City Address on April 30th.

HRPDC staff hosted a meeting with regional partners on April 30th to discuss next steps for the regional economic development sites inventory project.

The Regional Chief Administrative Officers held their regularly scheduled meeting on May 1st at the Jefferson Lab Facility in Newport News.  Agenda items included the following:

• Briefing on Jefferson Lab
• American Flood Coalition
• Regional Branding Initiative
• Tour of the Jefferson Lab Facility

The Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director attended the Regional Economic Development (RED) Team meeting on May 2nd in Newport News.

The Executive Director and staff provided a presentation on opportunities for extension of the Virginia Capital Trail on May 2nd to representatives of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber.

The Regional Connectors Study Working Group attended a tour of the Craney Island facility on May 3rd.

The Executive Director provided a presentation on the work of the HRPDC and HRTPO at a joint meeting of the Greater Norfolk Corporation and Virginia Beach Vision on May 8th. 

The Executive Director attended the Reinvent Hampton Roads Board meeting on May 9th. 

The Executive Director attended the 2019 Local Elected Leaders Reception hosted by the Hampton Roads Chamber on May 9th in Norfolk.

The Executive Director and staff attended a meeting with representatives of the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority (WATA) on May 10th in Williamsburg.

The Executive Director attended the first meeting of the Regional Branding Initiative Task Force on May 10th in Norfolk.