THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508030004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Regarding ``Commuting: In Hampton Roads the daily ritual is a driving force behind increased regionalism'' (Business news, July 16):
It was curious to note that the Eastern Shore peninsula was totally ignored in your statistics.
There are a limited number who can afford it, but many would-be commuters here on the Eastern Shore are held back by the $20 round trip on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It would devour too much of a worker's pay.
And few want to cross the Bay from the other side to provide much-needed services because of that toll.
The result is loss on both sides and poverty on the Eastern Shore, especially Northampton County, providing few jobs and low pay.
Exciting little towns like Cape Charles struggle to survive. There is so much to offer, but few tourists stop there.
It is only on rare occasions, such as the prison project, that the Shore is even mentioned in the newspaper.
This beautiful little peninsula with its creamy beaches and deep-water jetties, with an immense variety of wildlife, fishing and agriculture, was targeted to be a prison community! The resistance was strong and united; the voice of the people was loud enough to be heard.
If only this voice could be raised to highlight the injustice of the toll, which locks us in as effectively as any prison.
There are, of course, those who do not want anything to change. They have a ``let's keep it all to ourselves'' attitude!
A reduced same-day ticket would not endanger the rural splendor but would facilitate communication on land with the south and inject life and incentive into a stagnant community.
It is just a question of time before the splendid isolation will drain all but the wildlife from the shores.
Who will take up this cause and break the deadlock between the mysterious arbitrators of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and the freedom to commute with fair levies?
SHEILA CARDANO
Cape Charles, July 22, 1995 by CNB