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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 15, 1993                   TAG: 9305150044
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TOUR DUPONT TO PAY FOR POLICE, TRANSPORTATION

Spectators who lined Virginia roadways this week for their fleeting glance of the Tour DuPont bike race also saw a healthy contingent from the Virginia State Police and Department of Transportation.

But relax, taxpayers didn't pay the bill. The Tour DuPont will reimburse the state for its help with the race, as it has in past years.

The majority of the costs are for overtime, said Lt. John Quinley, a spokesman for the state police field operations office in Richmond. A total of 219 state troopers were assigned to help with the race, putting in 2,473 hours, Quinley said.

The troopers who help out are, for the most part, off-duty, Quinley said. The tour also reimburses the department for any lodging and meal expenses the troopers have.

Douglas Dix, the property and finance officer for the state police, said the department's billing to the tour generally runs in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.

Bill Worrell, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said besides helping the police control traffic, the department also tries to see that the roads the cyclists are using have been cleaned, bushes trimmed and potholes patched.

But the department's main concern is that no repair work is going on anywhere along the route on race day, Worrell said.

The Transportation Department doesn't know yet what this year's race costs will be, Worrell said. The department billed the Tour DuPont $29,788 on the 1991 race and $12,208 last year, he said. Of the 1991 figure, roughly $22,000 went to pay department employees.

by CNB