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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995                   TAG: 9508230044
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

CARS DON'T PARK ON CHRISTIANSBURG'S PARK STREET

On Park Street in Christiansburg, the residents of that quiet neighborhood say, the cars do anything but park. As a result, the area has become anything but quiet - or safe, residents complain.

Park Street is a natural connector between busy Main Street on one end and Depot Street on the other. It's a magnet for motorists who want to bypass the congestion on Roanoke Street and save some time.

That's the root of the problem, residents say.

Add to that the increasing number of motorists who have discovered the Park Street shortcut and the fact that the street is straight and does not have any stop signs or traffic signals. What has developed, residents say, is something close to a speedway. And Park Street's parents know speedways and children do not mix.

To solve the problem, residents earlier this summer asked Town Council to install stop signs on Park Street. Council instead put up two 25 mile an hour speed limit signs, three Watch Children signs, and two Playground signs.

Town Manager John Lemley said traffic regulations "clearly state that stop signs should never be used on through roads, which Park Street clearly is."

But the problem persists, residents say.

"I think people are a lot less inclined to run a stop sign than go 10 miles an hour over the speed limit," said Gwen Marcenelle, a resident and organizer of the effort to slow down vehicles on her street. She presented council with a petition bearing 200 names, asking to have stop signs installed.

"Without a doubt, stop signs are the only viable solution that we have," said a caller to a radio program on the issue last week.

Since council decided to install the extra signs, a traffic study completed at the end of July showed that almost 2,500 vehicles travel on the road each day, up from about 2,000 vehicles a day in a study completed two years ago.

"Town Council is really kidding themselves if they think something of a really tragic proportion is not going to happen there," said another caller on the radio show.

Lemley said the street would need a traffic count of 800 vehicles per hour for eight hours to merit a traffic light. Or five accidents within a year would have to occur. Three accidents occurred on Park Street during the 17 months ending in May, according to police records.

But residents don't want to wait for a serious accident to happen - or for one of their kids or pets to be injured. They are gathering names on another petition and plan to ask council to reconsider.

Meanwhile, more police will patrol Park Street, Lemley said.

by CNB