AIR SERVICE EXPANSION SMARTER

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

DATE: THURSDAY, April 1, 1993                   TAG: 9304010409
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-16   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
AIR SERVICE EXPANSION SMARTER
THE PROPOSED "smart road" between Roanoke and Blacksburg will be an experimental test road for a chosen few people going nowhere in a hurry. The average driver would seldom use it.
It's said that the "smart road" would reduce travel time 10 minutes each way. This would be a very expensive cost per minute. The smart way, it seems, would be to leave early enough to be at the destination on time.
The smart thing to do would be to build a new airport in the New River Valley or enlarge the airport at Blacksburg-Virginia Tech to handle large commercial aircraft, as well as large government aircraft. Then, those using the "smart road" would already be in Blacksburg, and would not need a "smart road." This airport could serve the people and businesses of Southwest Virginia with much better air service than they are getting at this time.
Since the airport would be close at hand, Virginia Tech could set up training programs for their students, for traffic controllers and other airline personnel.
The Roanoke airport has become hemmed in by residential subdivisions, with little chance of expansion, and the loud noise over these subdivisions cannot be controlled. This leaves the Roanoke airport very much in doubt as an effective airport for Southwest Virginia in the future. GLENN W. CROWDER ROANOKE COUNTY

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB