At the Wintergreen resort in Nelson County, a disagreement has been brewing for decades over a 400-foot stretch of gravel road.
But now, it’s coming to a head — last month, a congressman got involved.
Curtis Sheets, the fire chief for Wintergreen’s homeowners association, has spent the past 24 years lobbying the National Park Service to allow him to build an emergency exit road from the Wintergreen Resort to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
His cause has made significant headway this past year, and last month, Rep. Bob Good, R-Campbell County, introduced the Blue Ridge Fire Safety Act to help things along. The bill “clarifies” that the Secretary of the Interior and the National Park Service have the “authority to grant a permit for the construction of an emergency road on the Blue Ridge Parkway,” according to Good’s press release. Good cited multiple fires in recent years where isolated communities found it difficult to evacuate, including last year’s fatal fires in Lahaina, Hawaii. “Since there were only two ways in and out of the town, many were forced to take refuge in the ocean from the flames,” Good said in his statement. “Ultimately, this fire resulted in 115 deaths.”