ALTERNATIVE TO CLOSING OFF ROADS PROPOSED

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992                   TAG: 9201160366
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ALTERNATIVE TO CLOSING OFF ROADS PROPOSED
The controversy over the requested barricading of streets to prevent a shortcut between Brambleton and Colonial avenues in Southwest Roanoke apparently is over.
Instead of closing off Wright Road, Creston Avenue and Rosewood Avenue, the city planning staff has recommended a series of traffic-control measures to reduce through traffic in the neighborhood.
They include realignment of two intersections, installation of stop signs at several intersections, new pavement markings, pedestrian crosswalks and tighter enforcement of speed limits.
Traffic lights also would be installed at Overland Road's intersections with Brambleton and Colonial to alleviate the burden of cut-through traffic on Wright Road and other nearby streets.
The pavement on steep sections of Rosewood and Strother avenues also would be roughened to increase traction on ice or snow.
Gary Bowman, an attorney for Wright Road residents who requested the barricades, said Wednesday night the group is willing to try the staff's recommendations to see if they will reduce through traffic.
City traffic engineers say 1,800 vehicles use the neighborhood streets daily. Staff planners estimate the control measures will reduce through traffic by 35 percent.
Bowman told the Planning Commission that residents wouldn't press the issue if City Council approves the staff's recommendation.
The commission will vote next month on the recommendation before the issue is sent to council for final action.
The request has split the neighborhood because many residents on Creston Avenue and other nearby streets oppose it. At Wednesday night's public hearing, several residents said the issue has caused hard feelings.
"This is tearing up the neighborhood. Some people won't speak to each other now. The petition for closing the streets ought to be put to bed now," one unidentified resident said.
Creston Avenue residents said the recommended measures are acceptable to them so long as no streets are closed off. They opposed that request, they argued, because it would slow response times for fire, police and other emergency vehicles.
Ted Tucker, a staff planner, said Wright Road would have to be temporarily closed for 45 to 60 days to provide crews time to realign the intersections and install traffic controls. It would be reopened after the construction work is finished, he said.
He said Creston's intersections with Wright Road and Rosewood Avenue would be realigned to their original "T" configuration. Coupled with the stop signs, the realigned intersections would force motorists to stop, Tucker said.
The intersections are rounded now, making it easy for vehicles to pass through them without stopping.
Several residents said they feared the temporary closing of Wright Road would be the first step toward permanent closing. But Tucker assured them that this was not the intent of the planning staff.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB