Editor, The Smithfield Times:

The military brought my family to Virginia in 1995. We chose Windsor because of its once quiet country living. I have lived on Lovers Lane since 2002 and seen a lot of growth, but nothing like now.

Traffic is already bad on U.S. Route 460 and will get worse due to the Port 460 Logistics Center in Suffolk, the Tidewater Logistics Center and Windsor Station on Shiloh Avenue. Turning left on to Route 460 East from Lovers Lane is becoming increasingly frustrating, and at times, dangerous. I often find myself turning right onto Route 460 and turning around by Food Lion to use the traffic light to safely turn on to Route 460 East.

If you want a glimpse of what future Windsor will look like if unrestrained growth continues, look at Carrolton and Smithfield. 

Here’s one example. Drive on Virginia Route 32 North toward Smithfield. Right before Benn’s Church, look left: houses and apartments as far as the eye can see. Turn right on to Brewers Neck Boulevard toward Carrolton and look right: more apartments and apartment construction. When you get to the end of Brewers Neck, look near Royal Farms: still more houses, condos and apartments, with more being built, and no end in sight. Turn left onto Route 17 North, toward the James River Bridge. Time it around 4-4:30 p.m. on practically any weekday, and look left at Route 17 South. Most of the time traffic will be backed up halfway on the bridge, and oftentimes as far as the foot of the bridge in Newport News.

In Dickens’ classic novel “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge asks the Ghost of Christmas Future, “Are these shadows of what may be, or what must be?”

 

Joe Naneville

Windsor