Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991 TAG: 9104050461
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
At issue is council's 3-1 vote March 25 favoring an improvement project near Radford University over a Rock Road improvement project that had moved up the plan for several years. The state will hold an allocation hearing Monday in Salem, necessitating the special City Council meeting.
At last week's council meeting, Polly Corn, Bob Nicholson and Garrett Weddle voted as priorities the connection of Jefferson Street to Tyler Avenue on the east side of the university and the improvement of another stretch of Tyler Avenue on the west side of the university. Mayor Tom Starnes and Guy Wohlford voted for the Rock Road improvements.
The state has already started preliminary engineering work on the Rock Road project, Starnes said Thursday, and city staff has learned of "the possibility of some cost numbers that will affect the city of Radford."
Starnes said Radford could wind up paying more than its normal share of the project if it's delayed. The local share of road currently is 2 percent.
"I'm not sure whether anybody will change their mind," Starnes said.
Improvements to Rock Road from Wadsworth Street to First Street have moved up the plan for several years, and preliminary engineering on the $4.3 million project began in July. Plans call for the segment of road to be widened and straightened to accommodate four lanes. Council could decide four lanes are not needed, which would decrease the project cost.
A 1990 estimate placed the Jefferson Street project at $2.3 million.
Corn said in November that she favored the Jefferson Street project because she thought traffic was heavier there than on the Rock Road stretch. And once Dalton Hall at Adams and Fairfax streets opens, traffic likely will increase, she said.
James Hickman, a resident of the 500 block of Rock Road, told council March 25 he thought the project was always being put on the back burner. He said traffic and a lack of sidewalks make Rock Road dangerous for pedestrians.
"I don't think people understand how heavily traveled that road is," said Abie Williams, developer of Inglewood subdivision on Rock Road.
The road is used by employees at Industrial Drives Division and Magnetic Bearings, as well as parishioners of Gethsemane Baptist Church, he said. And as his subdivision fills up over the years to include 62 houses, that traffic will continue.
"I don't think anybody really objects to the other project. We just think they ought to wait their turn in line like everybody else," Williams said.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on April 6, 1991.
Because of a production error, the tally for a March 25 Radford City Council vote was misreported in a story in Friday's New River Current. The vote was 3-2 in giving road improvements near Radford University priority over a Rock Road improvement project.
Keywords:
GARY WEDDLE
Memo: CORRECTION