THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503310288
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
In recent weeks, I have been reading about the heated debate over the proposed race track on Nansemond Parkway. My husband and I live very near the site, and we are very much in favor of the race track. We attend Langley Raceway in Hampton every Saturday night, so we know first-hand the amount of noise the track will produce and the traffic it will generate.
Most of the points in the article in last Sunday's Clipper by Martha George and David Walkup of Citizens Against the Race Track were unfounded. It is obvious that these individuals have no interest in racing and have never attended a local race.
Sunday's article stated that traffic on Nansemond Parkway during rush hour is ``bumper to bumper.'' This makes it sound like there is stop-and-go traffic backed up for a couple of miles. That certainly is not the case.
The proposed site is just minutes from Interstate 664. Wouldn't it be a fair assumption that eventually the cities will widen the road to accommodate any extra traffic? I believe the citizens and cities involved could work out a solution to the traffic problem if they were willing to compromise.
The article also stated that the race track would amplify the traffic problems. However, the races will not start until 7 p.m., well after ``rush hour,'' and the patrons will not all arrive or depart at the same time.
This brings me back to my original point: These individuals know nothing about race tracks or how they operate.
There was also a reference in the article to the noise the track would create. To say the noise would be heard seven miles away is highly exaggerated; two miles is more accurate.
The track will have races only one night a weekend and an occasional Sunday afternoon. The noise the track generates will be nothing compared to the airplanes flying overhead to and from Hampton Roads Airport on Route 58. The airport noise is by far more of a nuisance because the airplanes fly at all times during the day.
If noise is going to be an issue, then you need to compare it to the noise we already experience on a day-to-day basis. You cannot honestly judge the noise level if you have never attended a local race.
The sale of alcohol was also mentioned. The article stated that, ``Although all of us who go to races don't drink excessively, some do and that is all it takes to kill people.'' What about those of us who attend races who don't drink at all? There are many more people who attend races who don't drink than there are who do drink. Again, I know because I attend them.
I would like to be able to attend a family function closer to home. I stress the word ``family'' because that is what racing is, a sport the entire family can enjoy.
Whenever I want to see a baseball game, a hockey game, a concert, etc., I have to travel 30 minutes or more. We need some sort of clean entertainment on our side of the Elizabeth and James rivers.
I would encourage the authors of Sunday's article to attend a race at Langley Raceway, so they can experience a race first hand. Then maybe we can discuss facts instead of speculation.
L. Schiefer
Charlton Drive Teenage pregnancy
When I read in the paper about politicians who want to put an end to free school lunches, I ask myself, ``Why do they want to take food away from children who need it?''
Buying lunches for children who can't afford to buy their own is a good way to spend the taxpayers' money.
I think the United States ought to help its own people before it spends money helping other countries. We should help others, but we should help our own first.
KeJuan Lawrence
Old Virginia Road Help our own
I think it's wrong for teenagers to become pregnant. Teenagers are too young to have babies, especially if they don't have a job and they can't support their children.
If the mother is still in school, what is she going to do about the baby? Where is she going to leave it?
These are questions teenagers should ask themselves before they have a baby.
Kristina Inman
Anita Circle by CNB