A bipartisan band of Virginia lawmakers in Washington have introduced legislation that would support the construction of an emergency road connecting the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Wintergreen ski resort in Nelson County.
At present, there is only one road that provides access in and out of Wintergreen, which has raised public safety concerns among residents for some time. But the legality of building such a road on federal land, specifically the area surrounding the Blue Ridge Parkway, has been a sticking point.
Legislation introduced by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner alongside Republican Rep. Bob Good of the state’s 5th Congressional District would clarify that the secretary of the interior has the authority to greenlight such a project, so long as alternatives are reviewed first.
“It’s critical that first responders be able to quickly get where they need to go during an emergency, but Wintergreen residents currently only have one road for entry and exit, which poses a major challenge,” Kaine said in a statement announcing the legislation on Dec. 5.
“This legislation would take the first step towards fixing this problem, making sure Wintergreen residents are not left in the lurch during serious emergency situations,” Warner added.
Wintergreen officials would like to see the emergency road built near mile marker 9.6 on the Blue Ridge Parkway connecting the parkway to Laurel Springs Drive in Wintergreen.
For too long a legal interpretation of the regulations controlling construction on federal land, which the Blue Ridge Parkway is, prevented Wintergreen from receiving the permission it needs to construct such a road.
“I am pleased to have worked with the Park Service and Senators Kaine and Warner on this bipartisan, bicameral effort to make the Virginians in Wintergreen safer from the threat of natural disasters,” Good said. “Bureaucratic precedent must never compromise the safety of Americans, so I am glad that this bill can finally remedy that.”
The lawmakers’ bill would clarify that the secretary of the interior has the authority to grant a permit to build the new road, so long as alternative routes that do not cross federal lands have been evaluated and environmental reviews and an analysis of expected fire behavior during an emergency are completed.
Curtis Sheets, chief of Wintergreen Fire & Rescue, has previously said the resort community has been trying to get a 450-foot road constructed from the property to the Blue Ridge Parkway. However, the U.S. National Park Service has been hesitant to allow construction.
“All studies indicate this project will not have a significant negative impact on the park,” Sheets said after the bill was introduced last week. “Wintergreen is actually happy that so many things had to be evaluated. The National Park is very special, and it should be protected.”
Sheets said the road has been in the works for years and has included research on the local watershed, archaeological impact and even its effect on the local bat population.
“The proposed bill is of critical importance to Wintergreen. Over the course of the 20 years we’ve been asking for this, there have been many people from NPS who were supportive, including an acting director during the Trump administration,” Sheets said. “However, nobody can seem to get past the legal authority issue. This bill would fix that.”
According to Sheets, the road would only be used during an emergency situation.
No tax dollars have been used to evaluate the road up to this point, he said.
“Wintergreen remains very appreciative not only of the Senators and Congressman sponsoring this legislation, but of all those who have helped along the way,” Sheets said. “This legislation is bi-partisan and bicameral. In theory, there should be a very high likelihood that this is approved.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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