ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 7, 1996 TAG: 9605070109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE HAS 23 intersections that warrant traffic signals, but officials have reserved only enough money to pay for five.
The intersection of 10th Street and Hunt Avenue is busy enough for a traffic signal, but money is tight and residents of the Northwest city neighborhood shouldn't expect to see one soon, Roanoke City Council was told Monday.
That brought groans of disappointment from residents of the 10th Street corridor, and warnings - on the eve of today's City Council and mayoral elections - that unrest could arise from a perception that city government is ignoring black communities.
"There has not been a problem in Roanoke. You have not had riots. The city hasn't been torn up," said the Rev. Lenord Hines, first vice president of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "But you better be careful. You can only push people so far."
"If you don't begin to quiet some of the fears the people have here, you better watch out," Hines warned.
The issue last arose two weeks ago when 10th Street residents turned out in force to demand action on the intersection because of increasing traffic and the large number of pedestrians who cross at Hunt Avenue each day.
They said they have been asking for a light for more than a decade, but city Traffic Engineer Bob Bengtson said the intersection didn't meet state and federal criteria for a traffic light. In response, council directed City Manager Bob Herbert to take new traffic counts there.
Bengtson told council Monday that for the first time, the intersection meets criteria for a signal. But there are eight other intersections where problems are worse and money enough for only four or five new signals.
In all, 23 intersections in the city warrant signals, Bengtson said. But a signal costs up to $100,000, and the city has reserved only $500,000 from proceeds of a recent bond sale for new ones.
"Our needs are many," Bengtson added.
The statements did little to appease the residents who turned out. Washington Park Alliance co-chairwoman Jeanette Manns accused city officials of "speaking with forked tongues."
"If you all cannot give us a [traffic] light because it costs $100,000, consider not taking tax money from the people who live near that intersection," Manns said.
Referring to one higher-priority project - at Hollins and Liberty roads in Northeast Roanoke -
she said, "the point is, we have more businesses on Hollins Road, but more people on 10th Street. ... I'm tired of it. I want to see some action."
Herbert has promised to convene community meetings with residents this summer to explore traffic options, including the possible widening of the road - which residents are against because they'd lose some property.
Mayor David Bowers told Herbert to make sure the residents aren't forgotten.
"Before these folks come back to this council again, Mr. Manager, I want to be sure you meet with them and come back with an action plan," Bowers said. "... I like to think that we do treat every neighborhood fairly. But I hear from time to time ... the perception that we do not."
"I think the key word is what is fair to the entire community," Councilman Jack Parrott said. "We have citizens all over who have problems, and we cannot address all these problems. ... All it takes is money. We're short of money, and we're going to get shorter before it's all over with."
In other action Monday, council:
Referred the question of granting a permanent pension increase to Roanoke city government retirees to a budget study later this week.
Approved an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation that clears the way for work to begin on widening Brandon Avenue from Edgewood Road to the city's border with Salem. The 1.4-mile- project will see Brandon widened to five lanes. The project will cost $9.1 million. City taxpayers' cost will be $439,000.
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