Deer Rapids Road residents weigh the pros and cons of a new structure

By Preston Knight -- Daily Staff Writer

STRASBURG — In the consumer's manual for "river cars," you might find pictures of golf carts, lawnmowers and anything else that has wheels.

"Anything that gets you to the river and back," resident Lee Smith said.

For Smith and Steve and Wendy Pieper, the need to have a river car — something to use when the low-water bridge on Deer Rapids Road has flooded and they have to leave their better vehicle on the other side of the river to get anywhere — brings a charm, quaintness, flavor and even a bit of romance to their residence.

That all stands to change if the Virginia Department of Transportation replaces the bridge on Va. 744 with a taller one as part of a major road improvement project.

"If I had to come down to one side, I'd say I don't want it," Smith said during a design public hearing Tuesday.

The current bridge, a little more than 2 feet above the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, needs to be replaced because it is narrow and deteriorating in some places, making it unable to handle traffic growth, VDOT Edinburg Residency Administrator Jerry Copp said. In its place, a bridge about 7 feet higher will go in at a price of around $2.3 million, which includes improving the approaches to the new span.

A walking bridge will remain in the area. Residents currently use that bridge when they are flooded in, which occurs about three to six times a year, Copp said.

In replacing the existing low-water bridge, he said officials have heard from residents that the main issue is that the new structure not be too wide. The compromise is that the new bridge will be 25 feet 8 inches wide, which has pleased some residents, Copp said.

"The last thing we want is a finished product that upsets property owners," he said. "I'd much rather hear [concerns] now."

For the Piepers, who are representatives of the Deer Rapids Road Fund, the biggest problem is losing the feel of what it's like to be flooded in. Mrs. Pieper likens it to a snow day.

"I'm a city slicker, and I love being back here, and I wouldn't trade it for the world," she said.

Still, a new bridge would certainly help when there is an emergency, Mrs. Pieper said.

And her husband said he is looking forward to the new bridge after receiving assurances that the area would not lose any of its charm, that current debris would be cleared away when the old bridge is removed, and that a better spot to launch watercraft would be made available.

"A new bridge is inevitable," Pieper said.

Acquisition of right of way is expected to begin in mid-2009, with construction potentially to begin in 2011. The new bridge could still flood, too.

The current Deer Rapids bridge, and others like it in Shenandoah County, was in place when the state took over various roads in the 1930s. Despite all the flooding that has occurred, the bridge has been more than useful, Copp said.

"For [builders at the time], that was a major accomplishment," he said.

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