Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 5, 1990 TAG: 9006020112
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Peter Mathews/New River Valley Bureau
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The county is giving names to the roads and addresses to homes to help rescue workers when the 911 system comes on line this fall.
But, some of the new names may raise some questions.
Does Acre of Rocks Road have more rocks than Half Acre of Rocks Road? Maybe. It doesn't seem to have more acres, and Half Acre of Rocks Road is at least as long as Acre of Rocks Road.
Is there an oil well on Oilwell Road? No, but there is a capped well there - a gas well.
If Virginia 603 will become North Fork Road, where is South Fork Road? There isn't one.
Joe Powers, county planning director, said Virginia 603 currently has several names, depending on which section of the road you mean. North Fork Road was deemed an acceptable compromise.
And how about life on Easy Street?
"It's quiet, peaceful. Nobody bothers you," said Benny Mullens, who lives on the rural road near Virginia 114.
But has Mullens been able to quit his job yet?
"Oh, no. Not quite."
What about some of the county's more important roads? Here's what some of them will be named when the big changes take place.
As you might expect, the biggies tend to be named for the communities they lead to or run through.
For example, U.S. 11 between Radford and Christiansburg is Radford Road. The main roads through McCoy (Virginia 652), Riner (Virginia 8) and Pilot (Virginia 615) are named after those communities, as are the roads through such communities as Basham, Wake Forest and Mount Tabor.
U.S. 11/460 will be called Roanoke Road between Christiansburg and the Roanoke County line although it will continue to be known in Christiansburg as Roanoke Street. Similarly, Tyler Avenue (Virginia 177) becomes Tyler Road when it leaves the Radford city limits.
The county simply decided not to have avenues, Powers said.
Then there is the U.S. 460 corridor. U.S. 460 is called South Main Street in Blacksburg and North Franklin Street in Christiansburg. Which one did the county pick for the unnamed section in-between?
It's the one whose town has hinted about "boundary adjustments." If Blacksburg does someday annex the corridor, the South Main Street signs already will be in place.
Incidentally, U.S. 460 will get one more name. North of Blacksburg, on the way to Giles County, it will be called Pandapas Pond Road.
Powers said residents picked about 75 percent of the road names. For example, Pair O Docs Road, in northeast county, isn't an enigma, or even a paradox. It's named for two doctors who live there.
Nonetheless, several people have come to Board of Supervisors meetings recently to complain that they weren't told what the name would be, they just found out, and they don't like it.
Take Teresa Olinger, who lives on what will soon be called Squirrel Street.
"What fool thought of that name?" she asked a reporter. Powers said that no one in his planning office has come forward to take credit for it.
Squirrel Street, which is near Montgomery Regional Hospital, is now called Davis Street. County officials have to change many names because they conflict with street names in Christiansburg, Blacksburg or Radford.
Having a Davis Street in the county could pose problems for rescue workers looking for Davis Street in Radford.
Olinger said her street already is served by 911 in Blacksburg. And she argued that her Davis Street has more heritage than Radford's. It was named after a local family who owned the land, she said.
But most importantly, there's not a squirrel to be found in the area.
"These people must be brain dead who did this," she said.
Olinger had an idea: There are hundreds of rabbits in the neighborhood, how about something named for them?
Sorry, Bunny Trail Drive is already taken.
KEEPING TRACK: If you can't tell new roads without a scorecard, well, Montgomery County is selling scorecards. Maps with all the new names are available from the Montgomery County Planning Department, P.O. Box 806, Christiansburg, Va. 24073. The county will mail you one for 75 cents, or you can pick one up at the county courthouse for 50 cents.
by CNB