THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060199
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
The region needs an interstate route from here south, Hans Gant of Forward Hampton Roads Forward said at the Portsmouth Chamber retreat last weekend.
That's a good proposal, but it is not a novel idea. We heard it years ago from former North Carolina Sen. Terry Sanford, who saw the need for a major highway connecting not only Northeastern North Carolina and Hampton Roads to each other but also connecting the region to the rest of the South.
A lot of people put down Sanford's notion, saying he was just playing politics. Few Virginians made any real effort to support his proposal in the U.S. Senate.
Even as governor of North Carolina during the early 1960s, Sanford pushed for connections from this region to the rest of the nation. He did not just happen onto the idea late in his political career.
Sanford is no longer in the Senate. Nobody else seems too inclined to pick up the idea - or, if they have, they haven't done much talking about it.
Isn't it time we all started talking out loud about a new interstate connection that would connect us to the booming areas of the Southeast? by CNB