Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503130051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELISSA DEVAUGHN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Side entrances to Marketplace shopping center, Kmart, Checkers Drive-in Restaurant, Exxon and Super 8 Motel create an obstacle course as cars dart on and off the highway. A never-ending flow of vehicles comes off the bypass, combining with local traffic along Peppers Ferry Road.
The Kmart access road, where Christiansburg Elementary school teacher Nancy Machincia flipped her van after a car pulled out in front of her, is one of those entrances.
According to a Virginia Department of Transportation official, the road may not be available much longer.
``There is a [traffic] light planned for Laurel Street,'' said Assistant Resident Engineer David Clark. Laurel Street is just yards from the Kmart access road. Clark said he is not sure if the Kmart road will be closed when the stoplight is installed, but ``I'm sure it's going to be studied.''
U.S. 460 carries 50,000 vehicles per day, which is ``a lot of traffic for that kind of road with that many entrances,'' Clark said. The result is ``driver impatience and people taking chances they wouldn't normally take.''
According to VDOT records, there were 29 wrecks along the stretch in 1993 and 26 in 1994. No one was killed.
by CNB