ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512040074
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Guest Column
SOURCE: JULIA MILTON
To my dismay, I heard this morning that the Montgomery County Supervisors could not take the pressure and failed to stand by their vote against the "smart" road made just last week. The sound reasoning behind last week's vote against allowing the "smart" road to cut through the protected lands of the agricultural and forestal district apparently was less important than pleasing one special interest group.
I had hoped the tremendous pressures placed on the board members by the proponents of this road would not cause them to change their votes. The reasons for voting against this project were for the greater good of the majority of the county's citizens. The reasons to protect this acreage do not disappear simply because the minority who want this project consider themselves more important than the majority.
Some facts about the road are:
1. No one has ever been able to honestly project what the final cost will be. We've spent $2 million already and not one shovel of dirt has been turned.
2. No one has ever been able to honestly project a final completion date. The first two miles of this road go absolutely nowhere! Millions of dollars for a road that does nothing to alleviate local traffic problems. It is possible that the remainder could never be completed, and we would have spent millions of your and my tax money for a dead-end stretch of road for Tech to experiment with.
Oh, of course, they will receive some grant money from large automotive companies - not nearly enough to finance this project.
3. Backers of this boondoggle would have us believe this road will bring us new business. Since when does a road that goes around existing business areas and provides a slightly faster route to larger shopping areas bring local ones more business.
Wake up, Montgomery County small business owners! Take a good look up and down U.S. 460 at the empty store buildings, vacant factories, and deserted businesses. If Montgomery County spent as much time, energy and money on supporting existing businesses as they do courting Big Business, our region would be better served. Some futuristic roadway is not the answer to attracting industry. A lower tax rate would help.
4. The biggest fantasy about this road is that it will alleviate the traffic congestion on U.S. 460. This backup is usually at rush hour. It is traffic going from Blacksburg to Christiansburg and vice versa. How is a road that goes straight from Blacksburg to Interstate 81 going to help U.S. 460?
Alternate 3A is the only answer to this problem. It is a separate project independent of the smart road. It is false to claim that not going ahead with the smart road will delay completion of 3A. Surely to complete one highway is easier than the construction of two.
The bottom line is the majority of county residents lose a great deal if this road goes from a fantasy to a reality. A small minority - namely those with Tech interests - gain 5 minutes and a more direct route to the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center. What a "trophy" to highlight in their brochures!
Tech can be a tremendous asset to Montgomery County, but in this instance I believe we are being "held hostage" by a project that only benefits "them" and only costs "us."
Julia Stewart Milton is a homemaker and mother of four who lives on Den Hill Road in Montgomery County, near the route of the smart road. She grew up in Elliston and is the daughter of Montgomery County Supervisor Joe Stewart.
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