Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 6, 1993 TAG: 9305060166
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEVE KARK CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
Supervisors unanimously approved the plan earlier this week after a joint hearing with the state Department of Transportation.
During the hearing, Dan Brugh, district highway engineer, noted the top projects on the list, which he said had been determined by using the county's own six-year plan for secondary road improvements.
The controversial Pembroke Bridge project topped the list. The $1.4 million project to build a new bridge over the New River at Pembroke will be advertised for contractors next April. The estimated completion date is December 1995.
Construction of the new bridge was delayed last year after a group from outside the town of Pembroke initiated an effort to save the old steel-span bridge, which crosses the river 50 feet downstream from where the new bridge will be built.
The group argued that the bridge should be preserved because it is one of only 20 of its kind left in the state. Pembroke residents who use the bridge, however, disagreed. They circulated a petition in which they argued that the bridge was unsafe and should be demolished as originally planned.
Although the fate of the old bridge remains undetermined, Brugh assured the board that the new bridge will proceed as planned.
Other projects include building a permanent $300,000 bridge over Wolf Creek near Narrows. The old bridge at that location was damaged by floods last year and was replaced with a temporary structure. The new bridge will replace the temporary, which was not designed to last more than five or six years, Brugh said.
Additionally, road improvements are planned for Kanode, Sugar Run, Provision and Rocky Hollow roads.
While the Pembroke bridge will be built as scheduled, Brugh warned that projects lower on the list may be jeopardized when the state legislature reviews funding next January. If the budget-cutting trends in Richmond continue, the projects could be affected, he said.
In another matter, the supervisors barely approved a joint resolution with the county's Public Service Authority to pursue the $6.4 million in grant funds necessary to begin the first phase of a countywide water project.
Supervisors Samuel "Ted" Timberlake and Larry J. Williams opposed the resolution on the grounds that it does not specify which organization - the county supervisors or the PSA board - would control the money.
Both supervisors have argued for more county representation on the PSA's board of directors. Currently, only one, chairman Herbert "Hub" Brown, serves on that board. They argue that a supervisor from each of the county's three districts should be on the PSA board.
PSA board members include the one supervisor and one representative from each of the five towns that will be initially involved in the project: Pearisburg, Pembroke, Narrows, Glen Lyn and Rich Creek. They have denied the supervisors' request for greater representation.
by CNB