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

DATE: FRIDAY, May 26, 1995                   TAG: 9505260055
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BACK CREEK HAS SIGNS OF DISAGREEMENT

The Virginia Department of Transportation added U.S. 221, which links Brambleton Avenue with Bent Mountain, to its six-year construction plan after residents complained that the narrow, twisting route was dangerous. Now the engineers are looking for citizen input - and they're getting an earful.

You can see the disagreement in the homemade signs that sprang up on front lawns this week.

A billboard in the front yard of the Harris home, near the most dangerous S-curves, says "Protect the Parkway. Select Corridor A1-B." A few yards down is the first of a series of printed signs: "Least Impact. Choose Corridor C." And about a half-mile farther, yet another sign offers a reminder about the no-build option.

You could hear it in the one-on-one discussions at public hearings sponsored by the VDOT Wednesday and Thursday. VDOT officials said more than 400 residents showed up at Cave Spring Junior High School and Back Creek Elementary School to talk with engineers and learn more about the proposed road project.

For Tina Gately and her husband, who moved to Bent Mountain Road a few days ago, the hearings were an opportunity to play catch-up.

"We just moved in from a busy section of Florida, and we had no idea this was happening," Gately said. "Everyone told us that Southwest County was the place to go. Now we have to wait to see what options they choose for the road construction."

Gately favors straightening out the curves and continuing improvements along the existing U.S. 221.

"Option C sounds like it will ... only benefit commerce. Forget about the environment. Forget about the thousands of dollars people have invested in their homes in this area," she said.

VDOT engineers have predicted that Corridor C, a new highway south of the creek, would cost less and displace fewer people.

That's good enough for Bing and Jerri Grindle, who have lived on Coleman Road for 23 years. They're fed up with the traffic problems.

"We've got to get away from that existing road," Bing Grindle said. "We've seen all the rescues and accidents. Something has got to be done."

And they support VDOT's proposal to build a new highway.

"I can't understand why they are letting people come in to suggest different routes," Jerri Grindle said. "They should know what's best. They're the road builders, they're the engineers ... We've got to have progress, we can't stop that. It's a fact."

It will take VDOT engineers several weeks to compile all the comment sheets collected this week, and when they do, you're likely to see the disagreement in them, too. After a public information session April 27, VDOT officials said 50 percent of those who had expressed an opinion favored keeping improvements in the existing roadbed, 30 percent supported building a new highway south of the creek, and 20 percent wanted no-build.

The divisions concern John Show, who has lived on Sunnycrest Road for 30 years. He supports straightening out the curves and continuing improvements along existing U.S. 221, but he worries that a lack of unity will delay the entire project.

"The community is very separated," Show said. "We don't need four or five petitions from all these different groups. Let's keep it all in one."