Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 23, 1990                   TAG: 9007230073
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROAD PLAN MET BY SILENCE

Three weeks into the official two-month public comment period, the National Park Service has received just two letters.

One came from Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, who objects to extending the proposed Vinton-to-Hardy Ford parkway east of the Explore Park in eastern Roanoke County.

The other came from an out-of-town citizen complaining about the $102.8 million price tag for the parkway and its related recreational facilities.

Parkway planners are baffled by the silence.

For the past three years, citizens have packed meeting halls and filled letters-to-the-editor columns with their thoughts on the proposed riverside scenic drive. Where are they now?

"You'd think they'd be sending little letters with expression of support or non-support," said parkway planner Bob Hope. "It's just surprising."

The only thing he and other parkway planners can figure is that folks have said all they have to say. After all, the parkway plan released last month doesn't differ significantly from the one citizens saw at Payne's town meeting in Stewartsville in January.

Also, Payne's objection to running the parkway through Bedford and Franklin counties may have led some citizens there to believe that the road plan is dead.

Legally, though, Payne can't stop the parkway. The congressional act authorizing the road - passed before Payne was in office - specifically directs the National Park Service to build a 10-mile parkway. So the park service is legally required to draw plans for the road regardless of the congressman's wishes.

In practice, however, Payne may have a lot to say about where the road goes. For one thing, he sits on the House committee that approves road funding.

In any event, the parkway will hold a public meeting on the parkway plan Thursday.

This won't be a formal, sit-down type of meeting. Citizens can stop by the Vinton War Memorial anytime between 4 and 8 p.m. to study the maps, talk with road planners one-on-one and, if they choose, have their comments entered into the public record.

The park service will supply pens and paper for people to write out their comments - the government prefers things in writing. Also, a court reporter will be standing by for those who simply want to say what's on their mind without going to the trouble of writing it down.

The lack of public comment may not last long, though.

One Roanoke County landowner along the parkway route has called a news conference for this morning to present his own proposed parkway route.

And the National Parks and Conservation Association, an influential Washington-based environmental group that serves as a watchdog for national parks, has promised to take a position on the parkway.