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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 7, 1993                   TAG: 9307070413
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN ROANOKE'S FUTURE, A MONORAIL?

Garbage pickup and disposal. With a new landfill being readied, I am reminded at my age how many landfills have been opened since I can remember and the ecological impact of each. The new garbage pickup station is being built over an old garbage dump. Once our garbage is put in that landfill, it is dead! How much will it cost to take trash over the mountain?

Environment. We need to take the energy out of waste before we put it in the ground, and we need to make sure there's no environmental impact. There are incinerators that will burn clean with no pollutants getting into the atmosphere. We could produce enough power with our garbage to power our school system with lights, heat and air conditioners. This would still leave a lot of power left to be used.

Transportation. Stop building parking garages in downtown Roanoke. If we were to build them outside the city, we could enhance our air quality greatly. We have no high-speed transport system, but we do have the property to put it on. We have facilities to build the majority of the components it would take to build a transportation system that would revolutionize the valley and surrounding areas.

Jobs. We have foundries, engineering and the best-working people that you can find.

Monorail. We could transport people to and from Blacksburg, Radford, Lexington, Lynchburg, Rocky Mount and other nearby towns and cities if we build the first link. This will make the valley a focal point for industry, education, shopping, investment and technology.

Tourism. This will happen with Explore Project being serviced by monorails. We own the right-of-way to put this system in place. People will come from all over to see this area, if they can get on a monorail and not have to fight traffic and parking.

If we start now, we can leave our children and grandchildren a more beautiful place to live, with air that is clean and water that is not fouled by garbage in landfills where toxic waste runs out from under and into our water supply.

I would like to show that the Roanoke Valley is a place of the future. We pay taxes, so let's use them to prepare for the future. CHARLES P. HENRITZE ROANOKE