THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512150189
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Will the entire population of Hampton Roads one day live behind a towering concrete wall?
Of course not. But if you live anywhere near an interstate highway, chances seem pretty good that a sound barrier is in your future.
I'm sure that beats the cacophony of cars and trucks, all operated by drivers in a hurry to be somewhere else. But so did the trees that were leveled to create the ribbon of concrete that lets us whiz from one city to the other without noticing.
Actually, you don't have to live near an interstate. Several Virginia Beach neighborhoods have them - seemingly jammed up to houses that, when they were placed, probably seemed isolated enough that traffic so severe that such an ugly structure would be welcome just couldn't be envisioned.
This whole matter came to mind the other day, when family travels took us on both sides of Hampton Roads. It wasn't that long ago, we remembered, that these structures started appearing. Now, they're all along interstate routes, including the Suffolk portion of I-664.
The Suffolk barriers were erected when the new road was built, and adjoining wooden barriers came after residents complained that, in directing traffic to what had been a fairly remote area, the Department of Transportation had robbed them of their peace and quiet.
After resisting, because the concentration of people in the area didn't meet DOT standards for sound walls, the department eventually added the wooden barrier. And well it should have; when a bureaucracy creates a problem for citizens, it shouldn't crouch behind more bureaucracy to avoid fixing it.
It was travel through this area, between Suffolk and Newport News, that put us to thinking about all those lofty sound walls we'd seen elsewhere and about how refreshing it was to drive this route and take in the view.
The difference between driving in some areas and being on this route is the difference between riding an elevator and standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
How in the world, we wondered, do people ever become accustomed to this claustrophobic situation? Why did they let growth get so out of hand that stone-imbedded concrete or slabs of funky tan - surely among the ugliest colors in the world - became welcome barriers against the noise?
And we wondered about this wonderful, expansive view that greets travelers on the Suffolk shore of the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel. How long will it be before Harbourview, the northern Suffolk industrial parks and other, certain development bring traffic in such numbers that this roadway, too, must have concrete walls?
Forever, we hope. But that isn't enough. Suffolk residents have to make clear that they do not want another Virginia Beach or Chesapeake.
We have to say to City Hall:
As the only remaining largely undeveloped city in Hampton Roads, we don't want developers to gain control, as they did in other cities, and dictate to us what Suffolk will look like a few years from now. We won't tolerate the traditional mentality that every square inch of every neighborhood created in Suffolk must be covered by as many houses as can possibly be squeezed in by eliminating every tree.
We've got an opportunity to do something different, and we're counting on City Hall to be our advocates.
We're counting on them to protect us from ever becoming a city that must welcome sound walls. If we never get another, that's plenty. by CNB