PLANNERS DON'T THINK CLOSING ROAD IS RIGHT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 6, 1992                   TAG: 9202060349
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
PLANNERS DON'T THINK CLOSING ROAD IS RIGHT
If the Roanoke Planning Commission gets its way, the requested barricading of streets to prevent a shortcut between Brambleton and Colonial avenues will be denied.
The commission voted Wednesday to recommend that a series of traffic-control measures be implemented to reduce traffic in the neighborhood, instead of closing off Wright Road, Creston Avenue and Rosewood Avenue Southwest.
The commission's recommendation will go to City Council next week for a final decision.
The measures include the realignment of two intersections, installation of stop signs, new pavement markings, pedestrian crosswalks and tighter speed-limit enforcement.
Creston's intersections with Wright and Rosewood would be realigned to their original "T" configuration. The intersections are rounded now, making it easy for vehicles to pass through without stopping.
The pavement on steep sections of Rosewood and Strother avenues also would be roughened to increase traction on ice or snow.
The street-barricading request by Wright Road residents has split the neighborhood because many residents on Creston and other nearby streets oppose it.
At Wednesday's public hearing, several Creston Avenue residents urged the commission to approve the traffic-control measures instead of barricading the streets.
The commission made one change in the planning staff's recommendation. Wright Road would not be closed to traffic while city street crews realign the intersections and install the other traffic controls.
City traffic engineers say that 1,800 vehicles use the shortcut daily. Staff planners estimate that the control measures would reduce through traffic by 35 percent.
If the recommended changes don't reduce the volume and speed of traffic, one proposed contingency measure calls for the installation of "traffic chokers" on Wright Road. Chokers are devices that narrow the width of the pavement so vehicles have to slow down or stop to pass.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB