ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609130069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
Intending to take his wife to a medical appointment one day in 1995, Harold Bowman left his home in the Glenvar Heights subdivision of Roanoke County and drove to U.S. 11-460.
There he found tractor-trailers and cars lined up bumper to bumper. They had been diverted onto the two-lane, modified road while highway workers repaired a sinkhole in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81.
Knowing that the tie-up would foul up the appointment, Bowman, 68, did what he said he had to do: He pulled into the center turn lane and traveled it all the way into Salem.
Bowman knew the maneuver was not one police would encourage. But it didn't bother him then, and it doesn't bother him now.
"It's easier to get forgiveness than it is permission," he said. "I felt good that I'm that assertive."
Bowman has been fed up with the 1.9-mile stretch of highway, from Salem's western boundary to Valley Techpark in Roanoke County, for at least three years.
A few weeks ago, he placed petitions for the road's expansion to four lanes, plus that center passing lane, in businesses and other public places in the Glenvar area.
He had obtained the blank petitions from the office of Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, and said he will return them when his drive is done. He has collected more than 100 signatures.
"In the 37 years I've lived here, the place has exploded," he said.
By his count, 40 businesses are served by the road. Traffic is thick with commuters morning and evening. When Virginia Tech plays football in Blacksburg, cars bearing Hokie flags whiz by. And then there are the tractor-trailers pulling out of the Kroger Distribution Center, Koppers Co. facility and other spots.
"They use it continuously," Bowman said, "in hordes."
He finds it an outrage that the road is only three-lanes wide - two for driving and one for turning - for that 1.9-mile stretch. The road is five lanes wide - four for driving and one for turning - as West Main Street in Salem, and four lanes wide after it passes Wabun in Roanoke County.
And he has let the Virginia Department of Transportation know how he feels.
"He takes every opportunity to remind us," says Laura Bullock, VDOT spokeswoman, adding that the road is "a major concern for us." In March 1994, traffic was counted at 14,457 vehicles per day.
Not only is the volume a problem at times, but VDOT officials wonder how it will be in a few years, when the widening of I-81 is likely to begin, and diversions may become more frequent. Bowman's pet project is not in the six-year plan for highway construction, but Bullock said that's a "dynamic document," subject to annual revision.
With his petitions, he is doing the right thing, she said. Others who agree with him should talk to their county supervisor, tell VDOT how they feel, and enlist the area's businesses in their cause. However, the U.S. 11-460 stretch must compete for money with other road projects in the 12-county VDOT district.
Bowman understands.
"I may not see it in my lifetime," he said, "but they're going to know I've been here."
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Map by staffby CNB