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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 17, 1993                   TAG: 9306170443
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SALEM WANTS CITIZENS COMMENT ON LOCATION OF PROPOSED BRIDGE

Getting caught by the train has become part of his daily routine since Luke Lively moved to the Woodbridge subdivision in South Salem.

"I go back and forth across the tracks four times a day on average, and I get stopped at least 25 percent of the time. No kidding. It's ridiculous."

Relief may be on the horizon - at least the distant horizon.

Salem City Council is studying three possible routes for a bridge that would span the Roanoke River and Norfolk-Southern tracks that divide South Salem from the rest of the city.

City Council will hold a public hearing on July 19 to give residents a chance to look over the options and voice their preferences.

Mayor Jim Taliaferro said the meeting may be held at the Salem Civic Center to accommodate what could be a large crowd. "If you get this word out, you'll have a lot of people interested in it," he said.

Once a route is selected, the bridge probably would not be completed until the later part of the decade. East Main Street must be widened first, and then Salem must begin setting aside its estimated annual road construction fund of $2.5 million to pay for the South Salem bridge.

The state Department of Transportation has presented the city with three basic locations for the bridge, with various options for each route.

The proposed locations are as follows:

The western location would extend south-to-north from Woodbridge subdivision to the intersection of West Main Street and Wildwood Road. The route would provide a nearly direct link with Interstate 81. Estimated cost: $6.2 million to $11.1 million.

The "middle" location would extend from Woodbridge subdivision to the intersection of West Main Street and Turner Road. Estimated cost: $5.7 million to $8.1 million.

The eastern location would extend from Twelve O'Clock Knob Road to Fourth Street, near the intersection of West Main Street. This location would give trucks a more direct route to the city's proposed landfill at Mowles Spring Park. Estimated cost: $5.8 million to $11.6 million.

Members of City Council, who reviewed the plans for the first time on Monday, did not indicate if they had a preference for any of the options.

by CNB