Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503020069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The trucks "were coming through here one right after another," said Fralin, owner of Bill's Quick Shop on U.S. 221. And Wednesday afternoon they were still coming.
Trucks on that stretch of U.S. 221 near Bent Mountain normally are rare, Fralin said.
"You might see one or two, but it's a two-lane highway, and it's steep too," he said.
But on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was one of the routes of choice for drivers trying - at all costs - to avoid Interstate 81.
The sinkhole near Dixie Caverns that had traffic tied in knots Tuesday still was slowing northbound travel on I-81 Wednesday.
As promised, by midafternoon the Virginia Department of Transportation had reopened I-81 northbound between exits 132 and 137. However, only the passing lane was open at the site of the sinkhole. The other lane will reopen this afternoon after the asphalt has had time to harden, said Laura Bullock, a VDOT spokeswoman.
But that wasn't soon enough for many drivers.
Although the delays weren't the one and two hours that they experienced Tuesday, there still were delays - sometimes only 15 minutes, other times 30 minutes or more.
That's a gamble many drivers like Virginia Tech student Gigi Lieberman weren't willing to make.
Lieberman and her carpool to Roanoke spent an hour stuck in traffic Tuesday on the U.S. 460/11 detour, and they were determined not to let that happen again.
"The people we work for here are pretty understanding. The first day it was OK, but a second day wouldn't have been excusable," said Lieberman, who is doing an internship with Norfolk Southern Corp.
They took Blacksburg Road to Virginia 311.
Steve Moffett was one of the truck drivers who sped pass Bill's Quick Stop on Wednesday.
Moffett had passed by the miles of gridlock on his way to Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, and he made a mental note to find an alternative route for his return trip on Wednesday.
A truck driver he bumped into in Charlotte recommended taking Interstate 77 to U.S. 221 and then to I-81, instead of the detour onto 460/11.
"It took me 30 miles out of my way, but it was better than sitting still for an hour. I get very impatient," Moffett said.
Some of the alternative routes drivers opted for may have been faster, but they weren't always as safe as the detour.
"Some of those roads were not made to handle that kind of truck traffic. They're narrow and they don't have the strength of an interstate," said David Clarke, an assistant resident engineer with VDOT.
The detour wasn't without its faults, either. Just ask businesses and residents along U.S. 460.
Ronnie Mowles manages the Orange Market convenience store on West Main Street in Salem. He said his business decreased about 20 percent because of the flow of traffic in the opposite direction.
"It was practically impossible for someone to come to my place of business, then continue on" to the detour, Mowles said. "We just had to grin and bear it. ... But I'm just glad it's over."
Bullock echoes that sentiment.
"We never want to have the interstate closed. Every minute that it's closed, it's costing someone money," Bullock said.
In this case, one of the someones was VDOT. The department footed the bill to put 250 tons of boulders, rock and cement in the sinkhole. An early estimate for the repair was $75,000.
Sinkholes form when ground water seeps through tiny cracks in limestone. That water then slowly eats away at the rock until eventually the surface above lacks support and collapses.
by CNB