Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993 TAG: 9303180550
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`SMART ROAD' IS AN ENGINEERING, ECOLOGICAL ERROR
I WAS EXTREMELY disappointed in reading the Feb. 20 news article in the Roanoke Times & World-News concerning progress on the "smart road" between Blacksburg and Interstate 81.As an engineer and vice chair of the New River Valley Chapter of the Sierra Club, my concerns are from two entirely different perspectives.
From an engineering standpoint, it makes no sense to build a working "smart road" without small-scale experimentation.
I like to refer to the National Aerospace Plane as a similar example, because it also represents unproven technology. The companies and universities working on the NASP built models and ran computer simulations without having to construct the real thing. This certainly saved millions of dollars given that the project is dying with every cut in defense, as well as the more realistic cost projections.
I'm concerned the "smart road" will die a similar death, because the cost of equipping vehicles with "fly-by-wire" technology will be prohibitive. Why aren't we constructing a test track instead, and why do we need a full-scale product to do research?
If the ultimate goal of smart-highway research is to develop a vehicle that drives itself, perhaps the liability of using such a technology should be considered. Does anybody really believe that cars will be reliable enough to drive themselves without input from the operator? What company would risk the inevitable lawsuits resulting from accidents caused by a system failure?
On the other hand, if the ultimate goal is just a better system of signs and a means of detecting road surface conditions, why do we need six miles of new four-lane highway to achieve this? Signs and sensors can be implemented with minimal impact in existing highways.
From an environmental standpoint, the project will devastate the beauty and ecosystem of the Den Creek Valley for no reason.
This highway will be a totally redundant route to Blacksburg for a small time-savings in travel. The savings in gas could be offset if only one in five commuters to Roanoke carpooled.
Finally, as a taxpayer, I respect the president's initiative to curb costs given the habits of Congress to fund unnecessary projects such as this one. When the president says "be specific" about cuts, I'd say this one qualifies. It's totally unnecessary, environmentally destructive, and technologically impractical.
KEVIN KOCHERSBERGER\ BLACKSBURG