ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010063
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
ONCE AGAIN the people of Blacksburg are being held hostage in the battle over roads. As traffic jams get worse with each added stoplight and crossover on U.S. 460 between Montgomery County's two ``burgs,'' the battle still rages over ``smart'' roads and ``dumb'' bypasses.
The county's Board of Supervisors votes one way, then the other, and then says it would rather not vote at all as its members are pressured by researchers who want their experiments and by environmentalists who want all the trees and flowers to live. The rest of us just get trapped - unless we want to go to Bluefield.
One group says we will all get rich and famous because of a two-lane road to Roanoke. The other says the road will ruin the view that, ironically, most of us will never see unless the road being opposed takes us there. Meanwhile, the state says that the other road, the dumb road (a.k.a 3-A) won't be big enough to hold all the traffic by itself.
What nobody seems to want to admit is that 3-A isn't really a bypass at all. It's merely another local road connecting Blacksburg to all shopping centers with its interchange at Virginia 114, and to the Christiansburg fast-food strip with another interchange at Roanoke Street before it ever reaches Interstate 81. It's nothing more than a high-speed route to Wal-Mart, Lowe's and the rest. Traffic jams and accidents will still be there, but will occur at increased speed. Could it be that this is why the Virginia Department of Transportation insists that the smart road has to be part of the deal, because it's the only real bypass?
As we sit in our cars on a Friday afternoon hoping desperately to reach I-81 before dark, let me suggest yet another alternate solution. Let's take all this smart and dumb highway money and start an airline to serve Blacksburg. Then we can all fly to Roanoke and look down at the trees and flowers on the way.
JIM MARCHMAN
BLACKSBURG
Teachers must deal with ding-a-lings
I RECEIVED a call from my daughter, a South Carolina high-school teacher, recently. She said she had a story that would ``ring my bell.'' It seems a local business had a sign out front that said, ``Ergonomically correct chairs $189. Teacher chairs $39.''
I told her to hold on, and I read her your Nov. 11 article (``Tech may merge Education'') on the closing of the Virginia Tech College of Education and its subsequent merging.
Gives new meaning to the term ``school bells.''
NANCY DOWDY
BLACKSBURG
Shopping carts create a handicap
AS THE holiday season approaches, I'd like to take a stand for those of us who are physically handicapped.
Since it's unlawful to park in parking spaces for the handicapped without marked tags or mirror identification, why can't owners of malls and other public parking facilities make it unlawful to park unused shopping carts in the few spaces provided for those who depend on wheelchairs, walkers, scooters and any other means of assistance to get around?
These owners should be held responsible for keeping these few spaces open and available for us when we need them. When able-bodied folks who just left the health club to make a ``quick trip'' to the grocery store put the basket in the parking spaces for the handicapped, the stores would be fined.
I can't tell you how many times I've had to wait in my car for a parking space so that I could go into the store, thanks to those fine able-bodied folks who are so considerate of their neighbors and mankind.
LINDA C. EPPERLY
ROANOKE
No insult intended to Old Southwest
IN A NOV. 16 Neighbors article (``Raleigh Court residents worry about apartment conversions''), which discussed the Greater Raleigh Court Civic League's land-use study, I was quoted making a statement about Old Southwest and the effects of the high percentage of rental property there. I wish to clarify that remark.
Our study did look at the relative amounts of multifamily vs. single-family housing in different areas of the city. This information had been presented at a previous meeting. We found that certain neighborhoods had higher amounts of multifamily housing than Raleigh Court and others had lower amounts. Old Southwest had a higher percentage. My comments were meant only to point out that this may create certain challenges to neighborhood organizations in terms of absentee ownership, property maintenance, etc.
Our fine neighbors in Old Southwest have done a commendable job in their neighborhood, and I've enjoyed many visits in that historic area. I didn't intend in anyway to imply that Old Southwest residents have ``lost control'' of the neighborhood. I did mean to say that if there's excessive conversion of single-family housing in an unplanned manner, there may be a loss of control over development within a neighborhood.
ANTHONY STAVOLA
President
Greater Raleigh Court Civic League Inc.
ROANOKE
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