Hearing

Hearing

Continued from Page 1

He predicted that four lanes will go from Front Royal to Rt. 211 and on to connect the truck port with Charlottesville. When that happens, “Rappahannock, as it is, will stop to exist . . . Nobody can bring Rappahannock back."

Repeatedly, opponents maintained that dual-laning will simply create a bottleneck at Sperryville where the four lanes will narrow again to two and make an already dangerous right-angle turn at the Exxon station even more dangerous. Stopping the dual lanes at the Covington River without connecting to routes 522 and 231 would be “most asinine,” said Tom Rhodes, supporting the general agreement among the opponents that a bypass of Sperryville is inevitable if the highway is four-laned.

"A bypass is coming, and my friends in Sperryville are going to be out of business,” said Margaret White, pointing to the impact such projects have had on other rural villages. "Hamilton (in Loudoun County) is a dead town. It has a bypass,” she added.

Others maintained that dual-laning 4.4 miles of road will increase development pressure. “To me, there’s an obvious link between development and transportation systems,” said David Chuse, noting that real estate ads always give ease of access and commuting time as selling points.

Stella Cadwalader criticized the highway department’s mention in its location and design study report of Rt. 211 as “quite heavily traveled during the scenic months of the year as it connects with the Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park.’’ In fact, Mrs. Cadwalader said, according to counts at the Thornton Gap entrance above Sperryville, the traffic in 1987 on Rt. 211 to the park was the lowest its been since the Park Service began keeping computerized records in 1983.

The opening of Interstate 66 through Fauquier County to Front Royal in the late 1970s has dramatically reduced traffic on Rt. 211, she said, adding that the highway de