Letter to the Editor: Concerned over Adkins Road bridge closure

I agree with the writer’s letter published (in the September 4 Chronicle-Extra) concerning the bridge over route 618.

I would like to draw attention to the centralization of road building and maintenance in the Virginia state government.

Many other states delegate the building and maintenance of local roads to their county governments.

In this way, local officials, who are more in tune with the needs of and more accountable to local residents, are made responsible for the health of the local transportation system.

Yes, your local taxes may go up a bit. On the other hand, your local transportation system should enjoy greater health.

Certainly, local officials would make the decision that the writer supports, that being to suspend construction of a bike trail in deference to repairing a much needed bridge.

We can not expect the folks in Richmond to exhibit such an intimate understanding of our local needs.

The solution lays in wresting some control from the State and transferring it to our local government.

Don French
Lanexa, VA