Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 8, 1993 TAG: 9308090234
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
For a recent example of wasting taxpayers' money, one needs to look no further than the just-completed construction at exit 84 on I-81 in Wythe County. It seems that there were a handful of trucks each year that were too high to get under a bridge carrying Route 619 traffic, so it was necessary to lower the I-81 roadbed about a foot. It would be too demanding to ask the high loads to get off at exit 84, cross over Rt. 619, and then proceed on I-81. After all, this could cause a 60-second delay! Never mind that this had worked well for 30 years, or that there are other low-clearance bridges on this and other interstate highways in Virginia and other states. The fact is that more than $1 million of our tax dollars is gone because our priorities are badly out of order. But then, what is another million when we owe more than $4 trillion? ERNIE MILLER PEARISBURG
by CNB