Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 26, 1993 TAG: 9306260120
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Short
The new light will regulate traffic at the Kmart entrance just one block from the major intersection at New River Valley Mall where Peppers Ferry Road crosses U.S. 460.
Dan Brugh, resident engineer for the Virginia Transportation Department, said a new stoplight will probably be put up in November, just before the new Wade's grocery store opens next to Kmart.
In addition to Wade's, Brugh said developer Bill Matthews Jr. has told him he plans to sign another retailer to build a 60,000-square-foot store in the Kmart shopping center.
"A stoplight will be definitely be needed then," Brugh said.
Matthews said he is working with Brugh, but that it "wouldn't be proper" to name any of the companies with whom he is negotiating.
Federal guidelines call for a stoplight when a four-lane road is traveled by 600 vehicles an hour and the cross road is traveled by at least 150 vehicles.
Right now the Kmart entrance road has "nowhere near" enough traffic to warrant a stoplight, but a consultant has determined that further development will make a light necessary.
The congested corridor in front of the Market Place shopping center and New River Valley Mall is used by about 50,000 cars a day, according to transportation department counts.
Brugh said the new light will be synchronized with the existing ones through the state's computer in Salem.
by CNB