See what downtown Norfolk’s waterfront will look like with new floodwall design
New designs for the first phase of Norfolk’s floodwall show the barrier farther from the waterfront and behind Waterside Drive, an alignment that envisions the potential for a tunnel over the roadway with a park on top.
Design concepts for a new “north alignment” of the floodwall, which is intended to protect downtown from catastrophic storms, show the wall hugging closer to buildings. The original location of the wall detailed in a “south alignment” plan placed it between Waterside Drive and Town Point Park.
The renderings presented to the City Council last week are part of the development process every phase of the project has to go through, according to Chief Resilience Officer Kyle Spencer, the head of the city office overseeing the project. Along with changes based on geological surveys and data collection, the design process also takes into account input from community stakeholders.
Members of council and Mayor Kenny Alexander showed a preference for the north alignment design, and Alexander praised Spencer for working through the changes with the Army Corps of Engineers. The design is a refinement of an initial “south alignment” included in the original blueprints ratified by Congress in 2019.
“You’re basically walling off the park from the rest of the city,” Spencer said of the south alignment. “It just really impacted the character of the downtown and the waterfront experience.”
The north alignment design also leaves room for potential expansion of Town Point Park. Additional renderings presented to council detail an additional option that would be underground Waterside Drive between the intersections of West Main Street and Martins Lane — the section of the road that swings around the World Trade Center. The park could then stretch from the water’s edge over a capped Waterside Drive.
The park over the road isn’t a finalized concept. It’s considered a “betterment” by the Army Corps of Engineers — not something that’s necessary for the floodwall to function as intended, and therefore outside the purview of federal funding for the project.
“Once you start adding extras, it’s kind of like when you’re building a house, and you say, ‘While you’re out there, go ahead and add a deck.’ It’s not necessary and it costs more,” Spencer said.
But it’s something the City Council could choose to include, when the floodwall is constructed or later on in the future.
The floodwall downtown is part of the city’s larger Coastal Storm Risk Management Project. The $2.6 billion project is a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is funded by federal, state and local money. Over 10 years, the multiphase project will construct nearly 9 miles of floodwalls, levees, tide gates, and pump stations across the city to mitigate the effects of increased flooding from sea level rise and more frequent coastal storms.
The downtown floodwall is the first phase the project moving forward. Construction of the first phase, Phase 1A, is due to begin next year between the Berkley and Campostella bridges. The design renderings for Waterside Drive presented to council are part of Phase 1B, which extends from downtown to West Ghent.
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For the change from the south to the north alignment, the city’s Office of Resiliency hosted a round table discussion. Architects and engineers were present, along with community stakeholders who gave input on utilities, traffic, festivals, cruises, downtown and more. The day began with brainstorming goals for the design and drawing concepts on maps. At the end of the day, engineers took the input and crafted new computer-generated renderings.
Designing is an iterative process with feedback from stakeholders along the way, Spencer said.
The design for Phase 1B is maybe 35% complete, and construction won’t begin for at least another two years. One example of community input that affected the timeline: The Sail250 festival, celebrating the nation’s 250th year, is slated for 2026. Construction will not interfere with that festival, Spencer said.
Residents can give input by emailing the Office of Resilience at norfolkrc@norfolk.gov and following updates at ResilientNorfolk.com.
Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, cianna.morales@virginiamedia.com
