Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 14, 1990 TAG: 9007140387
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The 5th District congressman sent word to federal planners: Go ahead and build the Roanoke River Parkway from Vinton to the proposed Explore Park in eastern Roanoke County, if you want.
But don't build the road through my district in Bedford and Franklin counties.
Some of Payne's constituents in those counties applauded his move, saying they never wanted the proposed scenic drive cutting through their rural communities anyway.
"We're pleased to see him step in," said Charles Wills, leader of the Hardy Against the River Project group. "It can't do anything but help."
But it's unclear just how much impact Payne's opposition to building the parkway all the way to Hardy Ford will have.
Federal agencies traditionally are sensitive to the wishes of congressmen, especially when it comes to local projects.
However, the river parkway would begin in Rep. Jim Olin's district in Vinton, so it involves two congressmen.
Olin said last month that he would push next year to obtain federal funding to buy the land necessary for the whole road and build at least the 2\ -mile link from the Blue Ridge Parkway to the proposed Explore living-history state park.
But Olin said Friday that it's up to the National Park Service to decide just what the whole road will be. He said he's not endorsing a specific route and welcomes Payne's proposal.
"I'm very pleased to hear him make a proposal, and certainly that proposal ought to be taken seriously," Olin said.
Because the river parkway involves expanding a national park - the Blue Ridge Parkway - the project also has drawn the attention of at least one major environmental group, the Washington-based National Parks and Conservation Association, a citizen's watchdog group solely for national parks.
The parks group hasn't taken a position on the parkway, but plans to before the July 26 public meeting in Vinton.
The official 60-day period to receive public comment on the proposed parkway runs through late August, and the National Park Service isn't expected to make a final decision on the route until early next year.
Payne's opposition to the river parkway running through Bedford and Franklin counties came in the form of a letter to Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Gary Everhardt.
In it, Payne makes four points:
Hardy residents don't want the parkway built through their Bedford County community.
Franklin County officials have been concerned that, because the parkway would end at Hardy Ford, it would dump tourist traffic onto two-lane Hardy Road and make that narrow, winding road leading to the lake more dangerous.
About 90 percent of the traffic on the parkway is likely to be from tourists headed to Explore. And "the vast majority" of those visitors are likely to get on the river parkway at either Vinton or the Blue Ridge Parkway, so Explore doesn't need the river parkway to extend all the way to Hardy Ford.
The parkway's projected $89.7 million price tag is prohibitive, especially when "we, as a nation, are . . . struggling to put our financial affairs in order."
Payne estimates the parkway's cost could be shaved by $40 million to $50 million if it ran only from Vinton to the Blue Ridge Parkway to Explore and didn't continue on to Hardy Ford.
"I just don't think the cost-benefit ratio is there," Payne said in an interview. "Going beyond Explore to Hardy Ford is very expensive and there's just no justification for it."
Some parkway boosters have touted the scenic drive as a way to provide more direct access between Roanoke and the growing communities around Smith Mountain Lake. But Payne disagrees.
"If the issue is how to get to Smith Mountain Lake, there probably are ways to address that without spending $50 million," he said.
Franklin County officials were pleased with Payne's position.
It doesn't help Franklin County widen and straighten the roads between Roanoke and the lake, said County Administrator Rick Huff, but at least it doesn't make the problem any worse. "We're thankful Congressman Payne is sensitive to our plight," Huff said.
He estimates it will cost $7 million to fix up the roads between Hardy Ford and Virginia 122. So far, just $565,000 in state funds has been allocated for two small projects along Virginia 634 in 1991.
Bedford County has taken less official interest in the parkway than Franklin County has, and Bedford County Administrator Bill Rolfe was less enthusiastic than his counterpart in Rocky Mount was.
"I think I like it," Rolfe said of Payne's position. His only reservation was, "I'd hate to think 20 years from now Bedford County wishes it had access to Explore from the east and we stopped the thing. It all depends on what happens to Explore."
He said he'd probably put the parkway on the agenda for the Bedford supervisors' July 24 meeting to see if they want to take a position.
The people planning Explore have been the parkway's biggest boosters. Project director Bern Ewert revived the idea of a riverside parkway running all the way to the lake when he was Roanoke city manger in 1985 and led the push for federal funding for the road in 1987. He and other Explore planners were out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment.
by CNB