Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994 TAG: 9407210008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Would the proposal to widen the road between its intersection with U.S. 460 and the Christiansburg line encroach upon my property? everyone wondered. Will the new road have five lanes with a continuous left turn lane in the middle, or will it have a median with only an occasional cross over?
Important questions, all, for an area that has seen much growth over the past few years and will likely see more in the years to come.
But Tuesday night was also a chance for the people who will be most affected by the project to influence it, for it is still in an incipient stage. And the fact that they seem to be coalescing early in a effort to do exactly that made Tuesday's get-together notable.
Dan Brugh, the Virginia Department of Transportation's resident engineer, was there, and what he had to say may not be groundshaking news: there are indeed plans to widen Peppers Ferry Road, though it won't happen for several years.
"I think the handwriting is on the wall. I think something will be done in the not-too-distant future," he said.
But first thing's first. Brugh's office will only work on one major project in Christiansburg at a time, and the one on the front burner now is widening Depot Street. Construction is set to begin next spring and finish perhaps by the end of 1995, he said.
The Transporation Department is planning to work on blue prints for Peppers Ferry Road from November 1995 to January 1996 and then hold a public hearing. Construction is tentatively set for 1999.
Between now and then, though, a lot could happen. Gas tax revenue, which is the sole source of funds for this construction, could change, Brugh said.
"As gas consumption goes, so goes our revenue," he told the 40 people who gathered at the muggy Belmont Community Center. "More fuel-efficient cars, our revenue goes down. That has been the general trend."
But what could have an even bigger impact on the plans is citizen input. The best time for residents to speak up is within the next six or eight months, he said.
Folks should talk to Town Council, the body that requests road construction. "If there's something we can do, we'll do it," Brugh said.
And if he has to say no to a request, something he is sometimes compelled to do because of unbending federal and state highway standards, he'll suggest other options.
"Every project we do we try to involve people who are going to be affected by the project as much as we can."
That was the message former county Supervisor Ann Hess and Chuck Adkins wanted people to hear too. Hess' group, the Friends of Christiansburg, and Adkins' group, the Belmont II Ruritan Club, sponsored the meeting. Because Tuesday night was so hot, not everything on the agenda was covered, so they are planning to meet again. Articulating community goals for the road and forming a coherent advocacy group is their intent.
Hess offered a cautionary tale about the people who live on West Main Street - people who will have to live with bulldozers and construction during the widening of Depot Street, followed by increased traffic.
"They got on the bandwagon too late," she said of their effort to influence those plans. "They could not have an impact on that."
by CNB