Hallowed Ground Dairy Queens

The National Register of Historic Places proposes to make Rt. 15 in Virginia the Hallowed Ground Parkway. This overbuilt area serviced by a rustic, 1950s two-lane road, could benefit from development restriction. That's certainly what my county, Loudon, is all about.

The puzzle at the center of this is whether NR is a force for good (restricted development) or evil (injection of thousands of tourists into already unmanageable traffic).

NR has been talking the language of tourism and economic growth - This Hallowed Dairy Queen - and consequently Loudon has opposed the Parkway designation.

Good for them. They are the only polity en route from Gettysburg to Monticello to do so. If it is NR's intention to become an engine of economic development the preservation game is lost.