Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In an effort to prevent crime at the railroad track crossing, the city is considering installing a high-tech audio and video system that would be monitored around the clock by police dispatchers.
The plan was outlined by City Manager Bob Herbert during a City Council budget planning session. But the price tag left some council members gasping.
Herbert estimated that cameras, voice-activated microphones, video monitors and ``panic'' buttons would cost $225,000 - almost $40 for each square foot of the walkway.
``They don't pay that much per square foot at the Pentagon for security,'' said Councilwoman Linda Wyatt.
``It cost me about $1,000 to put an alarm on my house,'' said Mayor David Bowers. ``It's hard for me to understand [spending] $225,000 for a security system.''
Security costs probably would be included in next year's city budget, which council will vote on in May.
If adopted, the plan would push the total cost of the bridge beyond $7 million, according to documents in the City Clerk's office. That includes $5.3 million for bridge construction; $325,000 for a covered walkway between the north end of the bridge and the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center; preliminary engineering; and utility and architectural costs.
Security is an issue, Herbert said, because many citizens simply wouldn't use the old tunnel beneath the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. Vagrants sometimes used it as a place to get out of the rain, and pedestrians were afraid of being assaulted or robbed. The tunnel was closed in 1991.
The idea for the electronic system was one of two alternatives proposed by the Police Department.
As Herbert explained it, the system would include television cameras, monitors in the police communications center, videotaping equipment, microphones and speakers.
While the cameras would be operational 24 hours a day, the microphones would be off unless they were activated by a pedestrian during an emergency. That could be done through ``panic'' buttons placed intermittently along the 390-foot walkway.
Speakers would allow communications operators to talk with people on the walkway, Herbert said.
The other way to assure the safety of people crossing the bridge is to station a police officer or security guard there. The initial outlay for manpower would be cheaper, but ``personnel is an ongoing cost that never pays for itself,'' Herbert said.
The mayor admits he was shocked at the cost.
Still, ``we want to make sure that if people are going to use that pedestrian bridge, they are going to feel 100 percent absolutely safe,'' he said. ``Old Roanokers remember traveling in the underground passage ... and there were problems from time to time. This pedestrian bridge will have full security.''
If some Norfolk Southern Corp. employees are any indication, the costs of security may be justified.
Bob Auman, spokesman for the railroad, said some NS workers avoided the old tunnel underneath the railroad tracks.
A railroad executive was mugged in the tunnel one day, ``and I think that may have given some people a lot of pause,'' he said.
``I avoided it as much as possible - it was dark and dreary and smelled bad. It smelled of urine and wine.''
by CNB