THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180479
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY DENNIS PATTERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: 41 lines
A proposed $950 million highway bond referendum is a waste of taxpayers' money and will primarily benefit seven urban areas that could see loop road projects speeded up, a coalition of environmental groups said Tuesday.
``Is North Carolina forever to be doomed to be first in paving and last in education?'' Joe McDonald of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation said at a news conference.
``We seem to be one of the last states in the union to realize that the old beltway concept does not work and has largely been discredited.''
Voters in November will be asked to approve the bond referendum, which earmarks $500 million for speeding up urban loops, $300 million to widen existing roads and $150 million to pave unpaved roads.
Another bond issue on the Nov. 5 ballot would borrow $1.8 billion for school construction across the state.
McDonald said putting the school bonds and road bonds on the same ballot ``can only be described as shameful. Let's vote no to more paving and yes to better schools.''
McDonald is the spokesman for the NO Highway Bonds Committee, which has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, the Western North Carolina Alliance and other organizations.
Margaret Kluttz, a member of the state Board of Transportation and mayor of Salisbury, issued a response for North Carolina Partnership for Schools and Roads, which supports the bonds.
``The road bonds will be used to address the most critical road projects throughout the state,'' she said. ``All North Carolinians will benefit from a stronger road network, whether it's completing loops around our largest cities, widening narrow two-lane interstate or paving dirt roads.''
McDonald and other opponents said the loop roads eat up rural land, foster urban sprawl and ignore the state's needs for highway maintenance and mass transit.
KEYWORDS: ROAD CONSTRUCTION by CNB