Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993 TAG: 9306240072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Traffic was so thick in front of his house that his wife couldn't back the car out of the driveway.
"Practically everybody's furious about it because there was no warning," Yopp said. "It's like [U.S.] 460 out here on weekends."
Until recently, motorists had no reason to travel on Dry Hollow Road in West Roanoke County. The twisting dead-end road led nowhere. Folks who lived in Dry Hollow pretty much had the road all to themselves.
That has changed with the construction of a Roanoke County reservoir in the next hollow over. This month, Roanoke County began using Dry Hollow Road for access to a public viewing area of the reservoir dam.
An estimated 1,000 people ventured up Dry Hollow for the grand opening on the weekend of June 12-13. Some 300 cars made a trip into the hollow and back out again.
"They was coming right after one another," said Edna Lester, who lives on the road.
Dry Hollow residents say county officials invited the extra cars onto the road without appreciating the dangers involved. Residents note that cars must stop when passing in opposite directions on the upper section of the road and that the railroad underpass at West River Road is one of the most treacherous intersections in Roanoke County.
The road narrows and turns sharply beneath the railroad trestle. There is no shoulder and no guardrail to prevent cars from plunging 20 feet into a dry creek bed.
Dry Hollow residents know the broken glass in the creek bed did not get there from kids breaking soda bottles. It is shattered windshield glass left over from the most recent car to tumble off the road.
"I always go under there blowing with my foot on the brake," Edna Lester said.
Roanoke County has agreed to install a sign warning motorists to honk their horns when approaching the trestle.
County Utilities Director Cliff Craig said traffic to the observation area has fallen off sharply since the opening weekend.
"It was a one-day event," Craig said.
But the county will continue to use Dry Hollow Road for public access to recreational facilities when the 158-acre Spring Hollow Reservoir fills up early next year.
Catawba District Supervisor Ed Kohinke said the county should consider widening the road - and do a better job of keeping residents informed.
Like her neighbors, Edrie Bayes had no idea that Dry Hollow Road figured into plans for the reservoir.
Bayes bought a house on Dry Hollow Road last summer because she was looking for a quiet, isolated area.
"All this traffic is really discouraging," she said.
by CNB