THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 32 lines
One can imagine the stories some tourists to the Outer Banks will be telling back home.
``No kidding, we were going south through this Virginia city called Chesapeake, almost to the North Carolina line, when traffic crept to a stop. That's not unusual, 'cause the road's crummy till you get to North Carolina. But this time traffic stopped because folks were handing out a survey to help them figure out how to speed up traffic. I'm supposed to mail it in, though I may keep it as a memento from our crazy vacation.''
It seems odd to stop traffic to find out how to speed it up. But city traffic engineers wanted a truly random survey of travelers on Route 168, aka Battlefield Boulevard, and Route 17, aka General Washington Highway - the better to plan for improvements.
If that's what it takes, full speed ahead, or rather, slow speed ahead while surveys are handed out. A free-flowing Route 168 is long overdue.
The survey asks nine questions, including point of departure on the trip, destination, purpose, times per week the same trip is made, number of people in vehicle and type of vehicle.
A new Route 168 will be built parallel to the current one, which will remain as Battlefield Boulevard carrying local traffic. City engineer Ray Stout said the city hopes the new route can be completed in the late 1990s.
Special recognition should go to Angelo M. Epps, 22, who handed out the surveys while politely enduring rude motorists' guff and obscene gestures - all for $5.50 an hour. by CNB