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turns north into Gid Brown Hollow.
“It only makes sense to me” to complete the dual-laning to Sperryville, he said. “You’ve got the county’s two public schools on that stretch. You’ve got the Co-op. And for right or wrong, the county has put its commercial zoning there and designated that area for future commercial growth. I feel very strongly that it should be dual-laned.
“Yes, I’m a highwray engineer and I build roads. That’s my job. But this goes beyond that,” said Mr. Askew, who is the recipient of the first — and only —Freedom of Information Award presented by Arundel Newspapers (which publishes the Rappahannock News) to the public official who most exemplifies the philosophy that public business should be conducted before the public and not behind the closed doors of an executive session.
“I’ve fought that highway through the sun and through floods,” Mr. Askew continued. “That was our access for bringing in men and equipment to other parts of the county. The enhancement of that road would be an enhancement of the lifeline for Rappahannock County.
“I’ve seen too many accidents on that road — bad accidents,” he said. Discounting the argument of opponents who say the dual-laning is not justified from a safety standpoint since Route 211 has seen fewer accidents ih.in the state average for two-lane roads, Mr. Askew maintained “if there’s just one, that’s one too many. . .Regardless of the money, safety is the reason why it should be dual-laned. We need to separate those opposing lanes of traffic,”
Addressing the value engineering study, he reported that as “a rule of thumb, if you take out the right-of-way cost, it’s cheaper to build two new lanes than to rebuild existing lanes, the reason being the extensive traffic control measures that are required.” If lanes are closed while a hill is being shaved, for instance, “where’s the traffic going to go?” he asked, noting that this “extremely costly” factor was not taken into account in the value engineering exercise.
“You can rebuild. You can make Route 211 a good tw'o-lane highway, but you’re still going to have opposing traffic six inches away. Safety,” he repeated. “That’s the reason it should be dual-laned. Safety is the true value of it.”
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