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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 26, 1994                   TAG: 9404260149
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

TEMPORARY RADFORD BRIDGE DEBATED

Whether to ask the state to consider putting up a temporary bridge across the New River between the city and Pulaski County sparked a debate Monday between a Pulaski County businesswoman and City Council that spilled into the hallway after the meeting.

Ginger Mumpower - who runs Ginger's Jewelry in Fairlawn - was upset over the final wording of a letter asking the Virginia Department of Transportation to pull out all stops to restore traffic over the New River in the wake of the Memorial Bridge closing.

Mumpower, a former City Councilwoman, wanted the letter to Transportation Commissioner David Gehr to specifically ask the state to consider a temporary structure. The final version - signed by all council members - asked Gehr to "expedite emergency action to address the necessary repairs to Memorial Bridge or to a temporary replacement of the bridge."

The letter also cites the impact to emergency services and the local economy. It also predicts "near impossible traffic control conditions" for the Radford University graduation May 7.

"I do not feel I've been heard tonight," Mumpower said after the vote approving the letter. Mumpower pointed out that the city gets $80,000 in revenue from the Fairlawn community each year in a revenue-sharing arrangement with the county. "To lose that money will have an effect on council's budget," she said.

Council members questioned the feasibility of a temporary span and whether it would take longer to erect one than to fix the existing bridge.

City Manager Robert Asbury accused Mumpower of "nitpicking" over the wording and said the letter reflected the city's call for urgency.

Still unhappy, Mumpower resumed the debate with individual officials after the meeting broke up. "You do not have a business in Pulaski County," she said, wagging her finger at Councilman Bob Nicholson as he was leaving the building. "You're nice and comfortable and safe up at Radford University." Nicholson is the school's physical plant director.

"I don't understand what the problem is with asking," she said.

"We're doing what we can," Asbury told Mumpower.

Vice Mayor Polly Corn said after the meeting that she felt the letter addressed Mumpower's concerns. During the meeting, Corn also expressed hopes the bridge closing might move up plans for a second bridge connecting the city's East End to Virginia 114.

Councilman Gary Weddle - accused by Mumpower of sarcasm after he suggested that the city might ask the state to supply a helicopter to ferry passengers back and forth - later said, "There are tons of solutions. We couldn't put them all in the letter."

by CNB