Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 1, 1994 TAG: 9404010213
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The meeting was held by a group opposed to Interstate 73's cutting across Bent Mountain, and the lone resident who spoke up in support of locating the highway there was soundly booed.
"This organization is not against progress," spokesman Alan Gleiner said in introducing the newly formed Blue Ridge Interstate Impact Network. "We're not against more jobs in the Roanoke Valley. . . . But we are here to spend time and efforts to prevent I-73 from destroying Bent Mountain."
The sheer number of people who showed up on short notice - about half of the mountain's population - indicates the level of concern about the interstate. And residents had more questions than the organizers had answers.
Only recently did they learn that Virginia Department of Transportation maps for the interstate's path through the Roanoke Valley cut across their community on the mountain. The network supports I-73's coming to the area but wants the state to find another route into Roanoke.
"We've been left out of the process," said organizer Tammy Belinsky. "We were the last to know."
The Transportation Department says the maps denote only a starting point for engineers to find a route, and that the highway could be miles from Bent Mountain. No one from the department was invited to speak at the meeting, although they offered to come. The Blue Ridge group may invite someone to the next meeting, in three weeks, a member said.
Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, wasn't invited either, but he showed up to a chilly reception. Griffith, who represents the area, supports a Bent Mountain route or one close to it, saying it would open new areas around Roanoke Valley to development.
"We have to look 50 to 100 years in the future. It's my belief this will have a major economic impact," he said. "You all can vote me out next time, but understand at least that I was upfront with you."
Griffith told the crowd that if I-73 comes across the mountain and the community doesn't want an interchange there, the Transportation Department will not put one on Bent Mountain.
The network plans to use cost, geography and environmental issues as reasons why Bent Mountain shouldn't be selected for I-73, which still is making its way through Congress. No route or funding for the Detroit-to-Charleston, S.C., road has been approved.
Steve Hobbs, director of conservation for the Nature Conservancy of Virginia, spoke about the impact a highway could have on the group's 1,700-acre Bottom Creek Gorge preserve. He pledged to work with the network.
"When people come out to Bottom Creek Gorge," Hobbs said, "it's important to us they hear the roar of the rushing water rather than the roar of rushing Mack trucks."
Russ Amrhein, who said he was willing to give up his new house for the highway, got a loud boo when he said he didn't think the residents could have any effect on the federal government's decision. He said after the meeting the group did not accurately reflect the opinions of the mountain's residents, who he said are divided over the issue.
"What you've got here is a lynch mob," he said.
The split in opinion among residents is something of a cultural divide. Newer and more affluent residents strongly oppose the threat to their rural lifestyle, while many of the lifelong residents support the highway to bring growth.
"Most of the people against this thing have been here less than five years and don't have more than half an acre," said Robert Brown, a 24-year resident whose house lies in the corridor shown on the map.
Carson King, a farmer who said his family stands to lose more property than anyone there if the proposed corridor is used, said after the meeting he was for the highway. His family has owned land there for six generations.
"We've got to look at it for our children and grandchildren," he said. "We've got to have growth or we're going to end up like West Virginia and the coal miners."
The network asked residents to sign up for committees to begin researching and lobbying. The next meeting is April 21.
by CNB