Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 21, 1993 TAG: 9303190029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IS THERE STILL TIME TO SAY NO TO LANDFILL?
My family and I live in the Ironto section of Montgomery County. My son attends Shawsville High School and my little daughter attends Elliston Lafayette Elementary. If the proposed landfill is built in the Bradshaw Creek section of the county, my research indicates there will be at least 50 more trucks a day on my children's bus route, Virginia 603, which runs from Northfork Road to U.S. 460 East.There already have been three accidents recently involving buses on this stretch of dangerous road known as "the bluff," and many more near misses.
Last week, our community group known as "Save our Soil" shared a video with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors depicting the treacherous nature of this notorious bus route.
The audience, including the supervisors and a room packed to the brim with members of "Save our Soil," were all visibly shaken by the 10-minute video, which graphically outlined just what happens when a truck must negotiate a bus on this narrow road replete with guard rails that hang out over a 100-foot drop.
Dan Brugh, the resident engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, told the supervisors that money to fix this secondary road would not be forthcoming any time in the near future. He said there is not enough money to fix the primary roads, let along the secondary ones. So why is the leadership of Montgomery County apparently willing to spend millions on a landfill here when Roanoke County and Radford both offer opportunities to use their landfill sites for a relatively minor fee?
The Bradshaw Creek section of the county has just unwillingly welcomed the aggressive eastern arm of the Norfolk and Southern rail spur that raped the land of its natural vegetation and forests, also causing increased erosion and flooding.
A concerned citizen has to wonder: Is there still time to say NO?\ Mary Hamlin\ Elliston