ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 29, 1996 TAG: 9601290086
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL S. ABRAHAM
WE THE people of Montgomery County, in order to form a more perfect system for getting from place to place, establish fiscal responsibility, ensure domestic liveability, provide for a healthy but lasting economy, promote the general welfare, and ensure the blessings of a clean, unspoiled natural environment for ourselves and our posterity, do hereby ordain and establish this Constitution for transportation planning in the county and throughout Southwest Virginia.
In establishing this Constitution, we the people eagerly anticipate and rejoice the death of the ``smart road,'' deeming it contrary to the tenets of this Constitution.
Article 1: We the people value our natural environment. We see rapid development all around us, and know that we cannot close the door on those who would want to become our neighbors. But neither do we seek to accelerate the process in the guise of ``progress,'' and in doing so sacrifice the one thing we treasure most about our area, its natural beauty. We honor the spirit and the letter of the laws protecting agricultural and forestal districts and challenge our elected officials to obey them.
We resent the forays of outside power-brokers who have no greater vision for our hallowed county than its hyper-growth, a population explosion and the concurrent inevitable demise of its forests, farms and water systems.
Article 2: We the people understand the need for energy conservation. We recognize that our worldwide known economically extractable petroleum reserves will be exhausted (pardon the pun) in as little as 30 years, and that automobiles are highly inefficient. Cheap gasoline has encouraged more people to become long-distance commuters. America is addicted to petroleum! We understand that our country consumes well over its worldwide share of energy. Yet ``planners'' have supplied us, and seem want to continue to supply us, with an automobile-dominated system, with little thought to alternatives.
We understand the need to make an evolutionary shift to more energy-efficient systems: trains, buses, bicycles and walking, and challenge planners and governments to provide systems, facilities and access which would make these means feasible. We reject spending billions nationally on a highway system to the virtual exclusion of all other transportation means.
Article 3: We the people understand the need for a vibrant economy, for good jobs for ourselves and our neighbors. But we see little reason to take millions of dollars from a bankrupt federal government to stimulate an already robust economy.
We the people live in the fastest-growing county in Western Virginia. We recognize the attractiveness of the county we call home, surely Virginia's most coveted address. Our county, with Virginia's highest concentration of higher education, is a natural magnet for bright, hard-working people. These people will, with their ingenuity and work ethic, guarantee a sound economy forever, if simply allowed to do so. In that light, we term major influxes of governmental funding as what they are: ``pork barrel,'' and view them as disruptions to a free-enterprise-based system.
Article 4: We the people, much better than our leaders, understand the need for fiscal responsibility. We see that our federal government, with our tacit approval, has amassed the greatest debt the world has ever known, currently $4.8 trillion. The media tell us daily of the intense revolution in our Congress to make meaningful changes in the way our nation balances its checkbook. At the same time, We the people see a vast current transportation infrastructure which is not being properly maintained. We the people believe that only when current budgetary responsibilities are met and current systems are maintained should we be considering new ventures, including the ill-conceived Interstate 73.
Article 5: We the people understand the need for Virginia Tech and other research universities to pursue research funding. However, we believe it to be unfair for everyday taxpayers to foot the bill.
Furthermore, we see that Tech is a leader in intelligent vehicle technology in aspiration only. Promises of $100 million to $300 million in research contracts are highly suspect. We see that most of the work Tech hopes to do can be accomplished on Alternative 3A or many other reconditioned highways, obviating the need for otherwise unnecessary projects like the ``smart road." If intelligent-vehicle research were as lucrative as backers assert, private business would long ago have provided funding.
We the people are not against technology, but humbly insist that those who stand to gain financially should be those who are at risk, not unwitting taxpayers.
In conclusion: We the people cherish our community and our natural beauty. We understand that road-building projects are hugely disruptive, with tremendous environmental, fiscal and resource costs, and only those with profound necessity should be considered.
Michael S. Abraham lives in Blacksburg.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB