THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 TAG: 9602130246
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
The fate of 345 trees along scenic Shore Drive will be decided today when the City Council takes up a proposal designed to make the road safer by adding paved berms and cutting back the forest.
Widely admired by motorists who drive its shaded lanes, Shore Drive cuts a bucolic four-lane path as it curves around the northern edge of First Landing State Park.
But the road also is heavily traveled by up to 12,700 cars a day, some of which carry children from the North End on their way to Cox High School. Along a three-mile stretch that includes the park, 58 people have died since 1977, often in accidents involving trees.
To make the road safer, engineers have proposed several solutions that are intended to give drivers an extra margin of safety in the event their car leaves the road at the posted highway speed.
But in calling for improvements, engineers unexpectedly tapped into a wellspring of environmental resentment offered by dozens of residents who see the project as nothing more than an assault on the park's sanctity.
The problem, opponents argue, is not the trees but poor drivers, and they cite the thousands of people who use the road daily without any problem. Among the tree advocates is the mother of a young girl who died, along with a friend, in a single-car accident April 13, 1994.
``It's absurd, the whole proposal is just absurd,'' said Victoria L. Matheny, the mother of Laine Schroeder, one of two children who died in the accident.
``Shore Drive used to be my favorite road in Virginia Beach,'' she said. ``It is no longer. But that does not mean that I want it to be less than it is. Yes, something has to be done, but don't tear up the trees. Don't tear up the ecology.''
The $1 million proposal, to be funded by a federal grant, calls for improvements in two phases. First, engineers want to build a 10-foot berm on the westbound lane and a smaller, 6-foot shoulder on the inside lane.
Then they would add ``rumble strips'' at the road's edge to give drivers a chance to recover from any errors. The road's sandy berms are unforgiving to cars that hit them and give drivers little chance to correct their mistakes.
The second phase is essentially the same as the first except that it would involve the eastbound lanes and involve the removal of only three trees. When completed, the closest a tree will be to the road will be 15 feet; some are as close as 6 feet today.
By trmming the forest, engineers say they will give drivers the margin of safety they need. But Matheny, like many others, is not convinced.
``Even if there were guardrails and 24 feet back that would not have helped the driver of the car my daughter was in, a child going 90 mph on a wet road. There is no saving people from themselves.
``We need to replant trees, as many as we can,'' she added. ``If they cut them down, I will lay my rear end down in front of the bulldozers, and I could probably muster 1,000 people to do the same.''
Matheny, and others, endorse ``rumble strips'' and guardrails along the road's length, a solution engineers believe is too expensive.
Robert K. Gey, the city's traffic engineer whose office has fielded dozens of calls and letters opposing the project, said he was surprised that people would value trees more than human life.
``Let's say someone makes an honest mistake and they take their eyes off the road for a second,'' Gey said. ``What penalty should they pay? Is your life a valid penalty? If you are crippled and maimed, is that a valid penalty? Or what if you total your car? Is that the price?
``I don't know, but I think the penalty now is too severe,'' Gey said. ``Something needs to be done out there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
SHORE DRIVE
The traffic: Shore Drive is heavily traveled by up to 12,700 cars
a day some of which carry children from the North End on their way
to Cox High School.
The toll: Along a three-mile stretch that includes the park, 58
people have died since 1977, often in automobile accidents involving
trees.
by CNB