Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993 TAG: 9302120257
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
RESIDENT SEES SIGN OF POSSIBLE TROUBLE AHEAD
Driving on Interstate 77 the other day, Tom Wills had a vision.He saw a sign that prohibits northbound 18-wheel trucks carrying toxic materials from using a tunnel farther up the interstate in West Virginia. The sign advises truckers to use U.S. 460 to take them around the tunnel.
Wills, who lives on West Main Street in Christiansburg, envisioned those trucks rolling right past his house and through the rest of town.
"You know they're going to go right through Christiansburg to catch 460," Wills said. "They're going to save 10 miles by not going up to Exit 118."
Wills' vision may move toward reality, he fears, if Christiansburg's Town Council approves a controversial plan to widen Depot Street.
The state highway department wants to spend $6 million to widen Depot Street to four lanes between West Main Street and North Franklin Street. Town officials say the project would ease traffic flow and accommodate an expected increase in the number of vehicles moving through town. The road could be completed by 1996.
For the people in Christiansburg who want to stop or change the plan, it may be time to circle the wagons. And call in the cavalry.
And they hope the cavalry arrives Tuesday night.
That's when Town Council may give its OK for the project. But before they decide, council members say they are willing to listen to suggestions about the plan.
"We will have a citizens' hearing, and we would prefer to hear new concerns," said Mayor Harold Linkous.
Linkous wants to hear new concerns because he and the other council members have already heard and read many. A number of people spoke their minds at a December public hearing, sponsored by the highway department, and others submitted comments later in writing.
Town Council hopes to reach a decision soon because the Virginia Transportation Board will meet in March to give its approval. But the board can't do that without Town Council's approval.
Wills and his friends have gotten together to see what they can do about the idea. They can imagine their neighborhood becoming a major thoroughfare. They are concerned about the prospect of more vehicles near the elementary and middle schools on Depot Street.
They've talked among themselves. They've spoken to a Roanoke lawyer, who told them they have little legal recourse.
It's a political question now, the lawyer said.
In response, Wills and other critics of the plan are hoping for a large turnout at the meeting Tuesday night at 7:30. And they're hoping council members will listen.
To spread the word, Wills and his friends plan to post fliers this weekend in neighborhoods that may be affected. They also are planning to talk to council members, alone, before the meeting.
"What we're going to do is try and bombard them," Wills said. The flier will ask residents to "let council know your feelings. Let them know we think things are going too quickly," Wills said.
Wills says the question for everyone is: "Can you motivate your Town Council to listen to you?"
Wills and his friends want council members to postpone their decision or consider other options.
Wills says a lot of vehicles use Radford Street to connect to Depot Street and then on to North Franklin. Why not widen the intersection of Radford and North Main streets?
That would remove the necessity of having to add a traffic light farther up North Main Street, a residential area where Wills and other critics of the plan live.
Craig Campbell, who also lives on North Main Street, felt so strongly about the issue that he asked Town Manager John Lemley to add his name to the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.
"I don't know how this plan is going to help the people of Christiansburg," Campbell said. "It's going to help people from Floyd and people looking for a shortcut to Blacksburg."
Campbell said the project could mar the North Main Street area, "the only aesthetically pleasing part of Christiansburg left."
Campbell has a question for council: "How many people have to oppose the project before you'll consider other ideas?"
"I kind of feel like we've been railroaded," he said. "I feel like they've already made their mind up. This could be a waste of time but I still want them to know our concerns."