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Staying Informed

The primary goal of the Public Information Program is to maintain early, ongoing and meaningful communications with the general public, business owners, government agencies, and other key stakeholders during final design and construction of The Tide light rail project. Other important goals are to provide access to light rail information, particularly to those directly impacted by construction, and to raise awareness of light rail operations, safety, and its benefits.

For the last several years, HRT has engaged in a number of public outreach activities during the early planning and design phases of the light rail project including public meetings, speaking engagements, and newsletters. Now, as construction of the light rail system is fully underway, HRT encourages you to stay informed in the following ways:

Contact Your Outreach Coordinators

Outreach Coordinators are your first point of contact and are available to answer questions, to provide construction updates, and to distribute project information. Outreach Coordinators provide light rail information and assistance to businesses, individuals and groups, particularly those who are in areas immediately adjacent to the light rail route and will be impacted during construction. The Tide light rail route is divided into two construction line sections, each having a dedicated Outreach Coordinator who maintains frequent communication with the impacted community and works directly with construction contractors. Outreach Coordinators are an invaluable resource because they provide timely and accurate project information, answer questions and help resolve problems.

Below you will find a list of our Outreach Coordinators and a map showing the line sections:

Line Section 1 – EVMC to Harbor Park

Line Section 2 – Harbor Park to Newtown Road


Click here to view map showing the line section

Visit The Tide on Granby

The Tide on Granby is staffed with Outreach Coordinators who are available to answer questions and to provide project information such as technical documents, newsletters, fact sheets, display boards, and public comment forms.

The office is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday and is located at:

The Tide on Granby
403A Granby Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-222-6000
The Tide on Granby

Read The Tide E-Newsletter

The Tide E-News is an electronic newsletter dedicated to providing the public with accurate and timely information on topics including light rail construction progress, major traffic alerts, community and business outreach, special events and other important information you need to know.

Don't miss an issue - join the E-News mailing list now!

[Click here to read the latest issue of the Tide E-Newsletter]

Call the 24 Hour Information Hotline

The Tide also has a 24 Hour Information Hotline, 1-877-456-TIDE (8433) to keep impacted members of the community informed during the construction phase of The Tide light rail system.

Here's how it works:

The hotline operator will record your question, comment or concern and immediately send an email directly to the designated project staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During regular business hours, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., we encourage you to continue to contact your Public Outreach Coordinators through the HRT Customer Service number: 757-222-6000. If a question or situation arises after hours, please call The Tide information hotline at 1-877-456-TIDE (8433). As always, in the case of an emergency, dial 911.

Watch a video simulation of The Tide light rail system

The video is a realistic simulation of entire Tide light rail route, stations and surrounding community using computer generated images (CGI) and aerial photography.

The video illustrates the following system features and characteristics:



Click here to see a video simulation.

Attend public information meeting

Last year, HRT hosted two hands-on and interactive Construction Kick-Off public meetings, where the public visited four display areas that provided a wide range of information on the light rail system.

At Station 1 participants were provided a written survey that allowed them to describe their personal characteristics and their preferences on how to receive information about The Tide and construction activities. At Station 2 participants viewed a video simulation and then answered questions about their impressions of the video. Station 3 provided an overview of the public information program and allowed attendees to access The Tide web site, ridethetide.com. At this station, citizens were also asked to identify their priorities for public participation activities. At Station 4, the public was asked to share comments, questions or concerns about display boards which provided information on a variety of light rail system characteristics.

A combined total of 157 citizens of Norfolk and HRT staff attended The Tide construction kick-off open houses.

The meetings were a tremendous learning opportunity and solidified the partnership between HRT and the residents and businesses that will be impacted by The Tide light rail system. The survey responses provided valuable insights that helped validate the effectiveness of existing public outreach techniques and revealed new public awareness and communications methods that will enhance the overall public information program.

Specifically, HRT learned that citizens think that the most important groups to reach during construction are:

Over the last year, HRT has reached out to all of these groups using a number of communication methods and will continue to do so throughout the remainder of construction.

In the coming months, HRT will be hosting another series of construction-related public information meetings for the downtown Norfolk area. At the meeting you will have the opportunity to:

Continue to visit this web site often to find out more about meeting dates, times, and locations.

Join the project mailing list

Receive meeting notices and announcements, newsletters, and other project information. To join enter your name, mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address, and hit submit.

Name:
Company/Organization:
Street Address
City:
State:
Zip:
Phone:
Email Address:
 

Click here to learn more about HRT's privacy policy.

Send HRT comments on the light rail project

Your feedback is vital and will help HRT lessen construction impacts and better meet your needs and expectations. Please take a moment to share your comments, ideas or concerns for The Tide light rail project. You can also invite a member of The Tide project team to speak at your neighborhood or community association meeting. Just fill in the contact person, organization name, meeting date, time, location and other details on the comment form below.

Please note the on-line comment form accepts a maximum of 300 words. To provide more extensive feedback or to submit letters, please see the Contact Us page.

Email:
*Comment: