Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9410060028
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Alcorn wants Marshall Drive, one of the roads that will lead into the supercenter's parking lot from Peppers Ferry Road, to be a through street. The road would then provide easy access to the nearby bowling alley, built by Alcorn's father in the 1960s.
Wal-Mart engineers bristle at that idea, saying traffic on such a road would be unsafe to shoppers. In their site plan, they have included a traffic island where Marshall Drive enters the shopping center's parking lot. The traffic island would slow vehicles and force them to turn left or right into the store's huge parking lot. It would also obstruct drivers wanting to use the parking lot as an entry to Marshall Drive.
Meanwhile, Alcorn, who represents Leisure Way Industries Inc., owner of the bowling alley, knows the crossover on U.S. 460 in front of Triangle Lanes could have a short lease on life. Dan Brugh, the Virginia Department of Transportation's resident engineer, has told him the cross over, which offers entry to the bowling alley for motorists traveling on westbound U.S. 460, may be closed within the next few years.
So Alcorn, who said Leisure Way has plans to renovate the bowling alley and expand its parking, suggested a compromise during a Town Council meeting Tuesday: why not install a different type of traffic island, one that would slow traffic but would also give vehicles entering the parking lot from U.S. 460 a straight shot toward Marshall Drive?
Alcorn's idea didn't fly Tuesday, but he doesn't figure he's struck out. He says he plans to offer ideas during the on-going review of the development's site plan.
"I'll be involved every step of the way."
Tuesday, council voted to relinquish its claims to roads running through the shopping center's 27-acre site, a legally required step that gives the developers a "clean piece of property and clean title," said Tim Sorey, an engineer with CEI Engineering Associates, the Bentonville, Ark., firm that drew the site plans for the 200,000-square-foot supercenter.
Alcorn asked council to delay its vote, saying Wednesday it would have been easier to suggest changes to the Town Council before its vote than it is during the more rigidly structured site plan review.
Town Manager John Lemley said Wednesday he was unconvinced by Alcorn's compromise, which he hastily mapped out just before Tuesday's meeting.
"Ray didn't say anything last night that changed my mind."
Lemley said he and Wal-Mart's engineers have talked about pedestrian safety.
"When Wal-Mart's engineers expressed their concerns, I had to agree with them," he said.
Sorey was on his way back to Arkansas Wednesday and was unavailable for comment. He said previously that Wal-Mart wants to have the site plan approved this month so construction can begin as soon as next month, all in preparation for an opening next summer.
Bowlers, shoppers and motorists can stayed tuned.
by CNB