8 STOCK-CAR RACES OK'D BY COUNCIL

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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 11, 1992                   TAG: 9202110318
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
8 STOCK-CAR RACES OK'D BY COUNCIL
Roanoke City Council agreed Monday night to allow promoter Whitey Taylor to use Victory Stadium for stock-car racing on eight dates this year.
Council approved City Manager Bob Herbert's recommendation that Taylor be permitted to use the stadium on seven Friday nights and Labor Day.
The promoter had requested use of the stadium for racing on 20 Friday nights this spring and summer. But the city manager said the stadium is available on only nine Fridays because other events are booked.
Taylor didn't attend the meeting, but he said late last week that he was going to ask council to reject Herbert's recommendation. He could not be reached for comment Monday night.
Councilman James Harvey said he saw no reason for council to reject Herbert's recommendation. His motion to concur with the city manager's report was approved unanimously.
On another matter, council voted to deny the requested barricading of streets to prevent a shortcut between Brambleton and Colonial avenues in southwest city.
Council approved a series of traffic-control measures that will be designed to reduce through traffic in the neighborhood, instead of closing off Wright Road, Creston Avenue and Rosewood Avenue Southwest.
The traffic-control measures include the realignment of two intersections, installation of stop signs at several intersections, new pavement markings, pedestrian crosswalks and tighter enforcement of speed limits.
Creston's intersections with Wright Road and Rosewood Avenue will be realigned to their original "T" configuration. The intersections are rounded now, making it easy for vehicles to pass through them without stopping.
Coupled with the installation of stop signs, the realigned intersections will force motorists to slow down and stop, city planners said.
The pavement on steep sections of Rosewood and Strother avenues will also 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 Avenue and other nearby streets oppose it.
At a hearing Monday night, several Creston Avenue residents urged council to approve the traffic-control measures instead of barricading the streets.
City traffic engineers say that 1,800 vehicles use the shortcut daily. Staff planners estimate the control measures will reduce through traffic by 35 percent.
If the recommended changes don't reduce the volume and speed of the through 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.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB