Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 9, 1993 TAG: 9309090199
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
Resident Engineer Dan Brugh told the county supervisors Tuesday afternoon that Virginia Department of Transportation plans to ask the legislature to deny funding for paving secondary roads if traffic does not exceed 100 cars per day.
Brugh said he could not say which county projects might be scrapped if the proposal makes it through the assembly because he could not predict the date it would go into effect.
Most of the roads to be paved in the county plan have traffic counts of less than 100 vehicles per day. For instance, Sugar Run Road, which is No. 6 on the county's plan, is used by 62 cars per day. Also, Conley Hollow Road, which is No. 10, shows a traffic count of only 51 cars per day.
He was telling the supervisors about the plan, Brugh said, to give the county time to lobby district legislators. Brugh also said he thought the transportation department wanted to transfer funding for road projects to areas with greater population, primarily in the eastern part of the state.
Counties with smaller populations, like Giles, would be particularly hard-hit if the department's proposal becomes law, he said.
On another matter, Donald Reid, area manager of C&P Telephone Co., asked that the county not sign an exclusive contract with any cable company so that C&P could offer competitive video service when it is available through its phone lines.
Reid told the supervisors that video service by phone has been approved in Congress but likely will be decided in the Supreme Court.
If approved, video service could be offered on the copper-type phone lines currently in place. At some point, though, these will be replaced by fiber optic cable, he said.
The supervisors told Reid they would be pleased to give county residents every possible option for video service, but said they would make no decision until they examined the situation further.
by CNB