Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990 TAG: 9003023316
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Greater Deyerle Neighborhood Association, which had opposed the plan to extend Peters Creek Road, has agreed that it won't oppose the extension of the highway to Brandon Avenue Southwest if traffic-control measures are implemented on Brandon Avenue.
Brandon Avenue would also be widened when Peters Creek is extended, based on an agreement that has been reached among the neighborhood organization, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the city.
City Manager Robert Herbert said Thursday he will recommend next week that City Council approve the route, which will allow Peters Creek Road to be extended 2.5 miles from Melrose Avenue to Brandon at Aerial Way Drive. Herbert will release his report on the project today.
"We won't oppose it. We understand that in terms of money and engineering, this route makes the most sense," said Jonathan Rogers, president of the neighborhood group.
Under the proposed agreement, turns from Brandon Avenue onto Deyerle Road will be prohibited during peak traffic hours to prevent motorists from cutting through the Deyerle neighorhood to reach Virginia 419.
Rogers said the neighborhood group thinks the traffic-control measures will help reduce the potential traffic problems. He said the city and state highway officials also agreed that Brandon Avenue needs to be widened and improved when Peters Creek Road is extended to help alleviate traffic congestion in the area.
"It is not a perfect plan, but it is a much better plan now than it was," Rogers said.
The compromise on the project was the outcome of a mediation process that involved the use of a "conflict resolution specialist" to address the neighborhood's concerns about traffic, noise, safety and environmental issues.
City officials said this was the first time the Department of Transportation has agreed to use a conflict resolution specialist on a highway project.
Susan Yoder, executive director of the Community Mediation Center in Harrisonburg, worked with neighborhood leaders, state transportation officials and the city to determine whether the residents' concerns were valid and whether anything could be done to alleviate them.
The agreement was reached after four work sessions that were attended by neighborhood leaders, state and city officials.
Residents in the Deyerle-Mud Lick Road area have feared that the 2.5-mile extension of Peters Creek Road would increase traffic on their streets because motorists will use their neighborhood as a shortcut between Brandon and Virginia 419.
The neighborhood group had vowed earlier to fight any of the four proposed routes for the highway.
Three proposals called for the highway to intersect Brandon east of the Lee-Hi Shopping Center. The fourth called for the road to intersect Brandon and Keagy Road just west of the Lee-Hi shopping center at the Salem city limits.
That was intended to provide motorists with a more direct route to Virginia 419 so they wouldn't cut through the Deyerle neighborhood.
But residents on Keagy Road and nearby streets didn't want the new road moved west because they feared it would dump thousands of vehicles onto their two-lane road. Salem also opposed this route.
Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 1993.
Seven businesses would have to relocate, but no residents would be displaced by the project that is estimated to cost $15 million.
The highway would have four lanes, separated by a 16-foot grass median strip with curb, gutter and sidewalk on each side. The road would have a 90-foot right of way.
Highway engineers estimate the traffic on the highway would average between 31,800 and 33,100 vehicles per day in the year 2010.
Merchants in the Plaza of Roanoke-Salem and nearby areas in Northwest Roanoke support the project.
Frustrated by the long delay, a Northwest Roanoke group organized a citizens' campaign to urge council to approve the project and speed up the construction.
The Northwest Revitalization Corp. collected 1,500 signatures on petitions urging council to quickly approve the plan for quick action on the highway extension. The organization, which is trying to promote the renewal of the commercial neighborhood in the Melrose Avenue and Peters Creek corridor, gave the petitions to council recently.
State highway officials said the new road will provide better traffic circulation and access to the businesses and industrial areas between the Plaza of Roanoke-Salem, the Veterans Administration Medical Center and the Brandon Avenue corridor.
City officials said the road will also provide a way for emergency vehicles to cross the Roanoke River and Norfolk Southern railway tracks in the area.
by CNB