HARKRADER STREET STAYS OPEN; COUNCIL TO CONSIDER TOWN STUDY

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992                   TAG: 9201230214
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-9   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
HARKRADER STREET STAYS OPEN; COUNCIL TO CONSIDER TOWN STUDY
Two controversial issues have resurfaced for Town Council: the closing of Harkrader Street and a proposed downtown design study.
Council unanimously stood by an earlier ruling Tuesday to keep an unimproved section of Harkrader Street open, despite another petition and continued concerns voiced during a citizens' hearing.
Harmon Forest residents fear that if the road stays open - eventually linking their subdivision with the proposed R&N subdivision next door - it will become a shortcut and increase traffic and crime.
Council thinks access for emergency services and alternate routes are more important.
Many of the same residents who spoke to council in November appeared again Tuesday and brought another petition. The first petition had 61 signatures; this one had 55.
"This is a safety concern for me," said Curtis Yopp, one of seven Harmon Forest residents to speak Tuesday. "We have many children in this area and the speed limit isn't enforced."
"The street committee took this up in the past and we don't see anything different now," Councilman Truman Daniel said. "People are speculating on too many things. We still feel that what we're doing is the right way to go."
The 60-foot section of Harkrader will be extended to the proposed R&N subdivision of 50 new homes and eventually will connect with Mud Pike.
Town Manager John Lemley said it's normal procedure to provide alternate access for emergency vehicles to a subdivision.
The residents left in a huff and many said they would return.
A proposal for a downtown design plan came up again following a meeting between Lemley and Montgomery County Administrator Betty Thomas last week, but again no action was taken.
Thomas had asked Lemley in December to meet with her about an advisory board to oversee the downtown design study project. Council told Lemley to attend the meeting and report back.
He brought a proposal summary and Mayor Harold Linkous - disgusted with the issue for months - asked council to look it over for the next meeting.
Haggling over this study - a Virginia Tech Community Design Assistance Center proposal for downtown revitalization - has been going between the town and county for about a year.
The supervisors remain undecided about plans for the property the county owns in the town along East Main Street. The town, which owns buildings across the street, plans to raze them for additional parking.
An engineering study commissioned by the supervisors essentially calls for demolition of the properties. Several of the buildings are vacant.
The supervisors have decided to take the first step and pay two-thirds of the study's estimated $7,288 cost, with the idea that if the town doesn't chip in to help, the issue is dead.
Seeking to retain the downtown's character, former Supervisor Ann Hess and a citizens group, the Friends of Christiansburg, lobbied the town to get involved in the study, which was originally estimated to cost about $3,500.
But the town has been reluctant to pay because it already has helped pay for two other design studies.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB