THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602030150
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
The anguish that surrounded the recent decision to realign a dangerous curve on Centerville Turnpike is a bitter foretaste of what could happen as the Oak Grove Connector moves closer to construction.
The highway, which will link the Great Bridge Bypass to Interstate 464, must slice through land now occupied by homes and farms. Some few families will be uprooted, their lives disrupted for the convenience of the great majority. Others will be left to suffer from noise, traffic or loss of privacy.
Progress, in its inexorable march, tends to overrun any who happen to stand in its way. Even if inevitable, it is traumatic.
About 30 citizens attended the first in a series of public hearings on the road's design last week. More hearings are scheduled for the spring.
Full participation by everyone who has a stake in the placement of the road will help assure that the process is fair and equitable and that the concerns of no one are overlooked or undervalued. If the process is done right, no citizen should have to feel as if his or her personal interests have been trampled in the rush of progress. by CNB