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

DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994                   TAG: 9407290043
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EASY STREET IN BEDFORD?

When you make an omelet, you're bound to break a few eggs. And when you name streets that people have lived on for years, you're bound to have a few disagreements.

That's what happened this week when Bedford County's planning commissioners unveiled the preliminary results of a project to name all the county's roads and streets, which now are identified by route numbers.

Take, for example, the case of the two Turkey Mountain Roads.

Bedford Planning Commissioner Dale Toms was surrounded Wednesday by two groups, each claiming to live on the real Turkey Mountain Road.

Each had property deeds and other documents from the county courthouse that referred to its road as Turkey Mountain Road. Yet on the new map, only one was labeled with the name.

That road is Virginia 677, home of Turkey Mountain Nursery. Relatives of the owners were at the meeting to make sure the road kept the name Turkey Mountain Road.

On the other side of Toms - and the debate - was Laurie Tatem. Her father lives on a smaller, unnumbered road south of Virginia 677, which he says is the real Turkey Mountain Road. Laurie Tatem said she had deeds dating back to 1890 that prove it.

Faced with a dilemma, Toms made a Solomon-like decision. One road will be called Turkey Mountain Road North and the other will be called Turkey Mountain Road South.

Both parties walked away satisfied, if not happy.

In the struggle to name the county's 800-plus streets before Bedford's 911 system goes on line in 1996, there's a lot of room for debate about the rightful names of streets.

"We really want to do the right thing and get everyone's road named what they want," Toms said. "We've put a lot of hours into this thing, and we've done pretty well."

At the Wednesday meeting, names were unveiled for most major roads in Bedford.

U.S. 460 between Botetourt County and Bedford was named Colonial Trail Highway. From Bedford to Lynchburg, U.S. 460 was called the Lynchburg Salem Turnpike.

Virginia 24 was named Stewartsville Road west of Virginia 43, which now is called Glenwood Drive. Where Virginia 43 and 24 run together, both roads are named Glenwood Drive.

Virginia 122 was called Big Island Highway north of Virginia 43. South of Virginia 43, Virginia 122 is called Body Camp Road.

The names will be open to public debate and still may be changed. Residents may make suggestions for alternate names to their local planning commissioner or at public meetings for their voting districts.

Wednesday's meetings covered Stewartsville, Huddleston, Forest and the Liberty High School/Goode area. A meeting on Thursday covered street names for Chamblissburg and Moneta.

Street names for the Thaxton/Montvale area will be posted July 29 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Montvale Rescue Squad building on Virginia 607.

Street names for the Big Island area will be posted August 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Big Island Elementary School on Virginia 501.

by CNB