As big of a story as the opening of Norfolk’s first-in-the-state light rail line was this weekend, it is another event which kept riders such as myself away from it: the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge fire. According to this story, the fire started August 4 and has grown to be the largest since 1974, covering almost 6,000 acres of the 112,000 acre refuge.
The fire has made going outside difficult as the smoke has blanketed the area. We were under a code orange air quality alert:
Code orange means individuals with respiratory or heart problems, older adults and children should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion, according to the National Weather Service.
The winds are supposed to keep most of the smoke to the south of us today.
As I do every morning, I went outside to get my newspaper off the porch and for sure, it is better than it has been. The last few days have not been fun with the higher, code red alerts. I’ve stayed inside – and been fairly productive in the process 🙂
But I sure hope I get a chance to ride the Tide this week 😉
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Well you should have rode the tide. It was fun there were events at most of the stops and people everywhere. Sort of packed in like sardines but I think because no one was riding it to go to work everyone was pretty laid back about the crowd. Most people were talking to each other and having a good time. Interesting I heard a lot of people talking about cities they use to live in with rail systems and how they rode them all the time and were glad to have one in Norfolk.
Another constant theme I heard discussed was it would be great if it went to the beach in Virginia Beach and also it would be great if they had it go through the HRBT tunnel when they widen it (if that ever happens) and you could go to the peninsula to work or home without having to sit in the tunnel.
My only complaint was that the parking lots were not big and won’t hold a lot of cars (I was as the end of the line lot). They used overflow parking for this event (church near by) but that won’t always be an option. If they expect people to park and ride to work or school they will eventually have to turn those lots into parking decks.
Overall a good job and it will help pull people back down town I am sure because I have lived in cities where everyone rides the rail.