THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409030502
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAYMARKET LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The Walt Disney Co. is vowing to overcome any delays in highway improvements caused by opponents of its planned theme park so Disney's America can open on schedule in 1998.
One hurdle that could hold up widening Interstate 66 and adding an interchange near Haymarket is a federal environmental review, which is just beginning and expected to take about 18 months.
Thomas Lewis, a senior vice president for Disney Development Co., said the company does not want to open Disney's America if road improvements are not finished.
But if park opponents delay road-building by filing lawsuits and demanding environmental studies, Lewis said the company would have no choice but to open with the roads incomplete.
``I think it's obvious that the only thing that's going to keep these long-needed, long-planned and funded road improvements from happening . . . are . . . these various groups who don't really care about traffic, don't really care about clean air, they only care about location'' of the park, Lewis told The Washington Post.
Prince William County officials and opponents of the park are concerned that roads in Northern Virginia won't be able to handle the traffic.
Christopher Miller, spokesman for the Piedmont Environmental Council, a leading opponent of the park, said Disney was trying to hold area motorists hostage in an effort to force approval of the project.
``They're willing to force the citizens to sit in traffic for years to protect their own interest,'' Miller said.
Kathleen K. Seefeldt, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, said putting 5 million to 6 million park guests annually on narrow roads and four-lane I-66 would create ``an enormous problem.''
Seefeldt, one of Disney's America biggest supporters, said she is confident that extra I-66 lanes and a new interchange on the highway would be built in a timely manner.
Two state legislators who supported the General Assembly's approval of $130 million in road improvements for the park - Sen. Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, and Del. Harry J. Parrish, R-Manassas - said they were surprised by Disney's stance.
Parrish said lawmakers did not envision such a scenario when they passed the legislation.
``We protected ourselves the other way,'' he said, making sure ``the road projects would not start until they break ground on the park.''
KEYWORDS: DISNEY AMERICA by CNB