Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511060022
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL S. ABRAHAM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Furr accuses opponents of having a BANANA (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything) mentality, when in fact he may be equally guilty of a NSADPHDLROIMOCI (never seen a development project he didn't like regardless of its misconception, odiousness or cost-ineffectiveness) outlook. Let's look at some of the purported benefits:
Economy: Without this road, proponents say, our economic growth is doomed. The fact is, despite Virginia Tech's current monetary woes, the area's economy is surprisingly strong, thank you, with low unemployment and an unprecedented building rate. Can anyone really believe that a fabled mega-employer would decide not to come to Blacksburg or Roanoke because they would be 49 minutes apart rather than 55?
``Smart" aspects: Virginia Tech and related research concerns drool over millions of dollars in research grants that will be made over the coming decades, grants they will only have access to with an instrumented "test bed." And yet, many smart road proponents have said publicly that the lion's share of the research could be done just as effectively on the already funded Alternative 3A (the Blacksburg-Christiansburg bypass connector) or on any of several other existing roads.
Direct link: A brochure from the Center for Transportation Research says, "Blacksburg is the only major community along Interstate 81 that does not have direct access to the interstate." When Alternative 3A is built, it will. Is 3A the straightest line between Blacksburg and I-81? No. But what cost should we be willing to incur to build an entirely redundant road which will turn a 45-mile trip to Roanoke to a 40-mile trip?
Relief of traffic congestion: The intersection of U.S. 460 and Peppers Ferry Road (Virginia 114) is a hopeless tangle. Relief from this mess is precisely what Alternative 3A is designed to provide. I've heard or read that 3A will be overburdened the day it is built, yet there will still be 20,000 cars per day left over for the smart road. (Where all these people are going to come from is beyond my comprehension.) Why cannot 3A be redesigned to accommodate even the wildest projections, rather than building an entirely redundant, parallel road?
Roanoke's access to Tech: The same brochure laments that Roanoke is one of the largest metropolitan areas on the East Coast without a major university. For the $110 million this road will cost, we could BUILD a university in Roanoke! Then we would really slash our travel time, save precious fuel, and create a valuable, lasting resource.
It is the right route for Interstate 73: Anyone with an atlas and a ruler sees that Pearisburg to Blacksburg to Roanoke to Rocky Mount is emphatically not the right route for Interstate 73. Distance travelers will favor the more direct Interstate 77 corridor. Even if it were, do we really covet the trucks, noise and Jack's-beanstalk-size signs that seem the norm for today's interstates?
Funding: The only funding for the road will pay for a two-mile, dead-end stretch, closed to the public, devoted exclusively to testing. We residents get nothing for our initial millions. We will simply be subsidizing the giants of the automotive industry. The next phase is a simple two-lane road, with no passing, even on the long climb northbound into Blacksburg.
Costs: Projections of costs for this road have risen steadily from $80 million when it was first envisioned to $110 million, and will go even higher. If today's cost were divided among north Montgomery County's 50,000 or so residents (the purported beneficiaries of the road), it would cost each adult and child a whopping $2,000.
If we get federal funding, every taxpayer in America must ante up nearly $1 (and we, with our $4.7 trillion debt are already the most heavily indebted society the world has ever known).
Most smart road opponents do not have a BANANA mentality, as evidenced by almost universal support for Alternative 3A. We oppose the smart road because it is a bad idea and has a huge price tag we cannot afford.
Michael S. Abraham lives in Blacksburg.
by CNB