ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997 TAG: 9704140012
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
No need for `smart' road with growth slowing
Now that we know that growth in the New River Valley has slowed considerably, we can presume that the Virginia Department of Transportation's traffic projections for the "smart" road are no longer valid (if they ever were). Now it should be obvious to all that we no longer need two roads in Montgomery County to get to Interstate 81.
Build the test bed where it belongs - on Virginia Tech property, and build Alternate 3-A for the rest of us.
Then maybe there will be enough money for much needed work on Virginia 100 in Giles County.
Edie Schumacher
Blacksburg
Put a traffic light at Peppers Ferry Road
Today [April 4], I saw my fourth wreck in the same small intersection in as many months; in fact, in one day there were three wrecks at this intersection, one in which I was an unwilling participant.
My accident occurred on Thursday, December 12, about 5 p.m. It cost my insurance company about $10,000. Rough neighborhood, huh? An eyewitness, who had been near the intersection at that fateful rainy Thursday, later told me that my wreck had been the third one there that day.
The intersection on Peppers Ferry Road adjacent to the New River Primary Care Clinic is one of the most dangerous in Christiansburg. It is one of the most-often-visited intersections by town police, ambulance drivers and firemen. It handles traffic from Peppers Ferry Road in two directions, as well as traffic from the clinic and New River Valley Mall on one side and the Wal-Mart Super Center on the other side.
Can you imagine the traffic from 7 to 9 a.m., 12 to 1 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. every day? Well, I can! I had a front-row seat, in the rain. A very kind Christiansburg police officer gave me and my mangled Virginia license plate a ride home.
What I cannot understand is how Christiansburg public officials can stand by while people are being injured here. How can they justify the continued cost of emergency vehicles reporting to this same intersection over and over again when in all likelihood, one red light would bring the problem to a halt?!
I am only a recent immigrant to Christiansburg. So I have no idea whether this problem has been discussed previously. As a victim of this intersection, however, and a Christiansburg resident, no matter for how long, I implore the town to remedy this problem before someone is killed, or someone else is injured
Johnny M. Shelton
Christiansburg
People should eat locally grown foods
With news of children becoming sick from imported strawberries, it is a good time to reinforce the concepts of healthy food choices for Virginians. The guidelines are simple: Whenever possible buy locally grown foods, buy produce in season, eat a variety of foods, and find out how the foods you eat were produced.
There is a growing movement across the country toward biological farming that relies on methods such as crop rotation, integrated pest-management, soil and water conservation techniques, and more. These replace the chemical-intensive methods our nation has been advocating since the end of World War II.
I am delighted to see the conservation methods of biological farming redeveloping in Virginia. They are healthier for all of us, help preserve rural Virginia, and can be the backbone of a strong local economy.
Jeanne Nye
Christiansburg
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB