The decision-makers aren’t hearing our pleas for Grovemont

First of all, we want everyone to understand that we fully support the location of the VA nursing facility in Swannanoa. We continue to hope that the decision-makers for this facility have the wisdom to listen to us about the serious safety issues associated with locating the entrance on narrow little Woodland Road, the proposed entrance to the facility.

Once the facility is operational, it has been estimated that approximately 5,000 additional vehicles per month — including those of the estimated 170 employees working 24-hour, round-the-clock shifts, delivery trucks, visitors and emergency vehicles — will travel down Woodland, Northeast and Eastwood Streets and through our community.

This additional traffic burden, which will go past a playground, a park and our library, is dangerous to the children and everyone who walks, plays and lives on those routes, and compromises the integrity of our peaceful little neighborhood. Those are the reasons that we want the entrance to the VA nursing facility to be on Lake Eden Road, where there will be no impact on a residential neighborhood.

A Lake Eden entrance is already planned for the heavy construction traffic — a high volume of construction workers' vehicles, large trucks and heavy equipment, so it just makes sense and would save money to continue to use the Lake Eden construction entrance as the permanent entrance.

So far the decision-makers are not listening. Instead, we've heard every sort of excuse why they want Woodland Road as the entrance instead of using Lake Eden Road. It's time for the state employees and the politicians to use some common sense, and make the right decision.

— Terri and Don Kennedy
Swannanoa