Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 15, 1992 TAG: 9202150130
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
MUNFORD CHANGING STAND ON LINK ROAD, AIDE SAYS
Del. Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg, may be rethinking her support for the proposed highway linking Blacksburg to Interstate 81.Munford's aide, Paul Mitchem, said Friday that the delegate has been swamped in the last couple of weeks with phone calls and mail from opponents of the direct link.
"We don't believe the citizens have been sold on this," Mitchem said.
He said Munford also advised one of her legislative peers to drop the road from a bond referendum bill, fearing Montgomery County residents would vote the entire bond issue down.
The House of Delegates on Friday passed the bond proposal for more than $1 billion submitted by Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton.
Among other construction projects, the bill includes $28 million for the direct link, a proposed six-mile highway through Ellett Valley that is estimated to cost more than $100 million.
Cranwell's proposal now goes before the Senate, where it has an uphill battle. Gov. Douglas Wilder's $500 million version of the bond referendum is favored in the Senate.
Meanwhile, foes and backers of the link are busy dialing for support of their positions, each convinced that they outnumber the other.
Foes say the road is too expensive and environmentally damaging. Backers say it's vital to the long-term economic life of Southwest Virginia, and necessary to relieve future traffic jams.
The state Board of Transportation is scheduled to choose a route for the link Thursday, capping years of study, debate and political lobbying.
"They say the opponents are a thousand times more organized," said Supervisor Larry "Nick" Rush, who's against the road because it would run through his district. "No, there's just a thousand times more of them."
Munford in the past has supported the link based on endorsements from the county, Christiansburg and Blacksburg governments and Virginia Tech.
"But I don't believe she's going to support it with the current level of public outcry," Mitchem said. "The proponents of the road have not done a good job selling it to the public, and it may be too late."
In recent weeks, Munford has spoken privately with some town and county elected officials, encouraging them to heed what citizens are saying, he said.
On Monday, the Board of Supervisors will vote at a special meeting on Rush's resolution that would withdraw support for the link. The vote appears to be evenly split or 4-2 against. Either tally would kill the measure and leave the county's support intact.
But Rush will continue pushing for the resolution, despite a 1989 "gentlemen's agreement" between the localities that he said pre-empted public hearings on the link that came later.
"And I don't appreciate the fact that an unelected official from Vinton is making threats," Rush said.
Steve Musselwhite, Salem District member of the Transportation Board and a strong supporter of the project, hinted earlier this week that if the county reversed its position now, it would jeopardize funding for another road, the U.S. 460 bypass.
Musselwhite has been invited to speak at Monday's meeting to clarify the relationship between the two projects, County Administrator Betty Thomas said.
At the meeting will be Blacksburg Mayor Roger Hedgepeth, an ardent link supporter who said he's frustrated by the emotional backlash of the opposition.
"I've been acting like a fireman here for about a week, simply trying to keep elected officials looking at everything from a rational perspective," he said.
Folks have been talking about the need to build a more direct route to the interstate and the Roanoke Valley for years.
Bridging Tech's research capabilities with the city's cultural and corporate worlds will create jobs, Hedgepeth said - especially if the link becomes the first test bed for "smart road" technology. Transportation researchers are developing sophisticated electronic systems aimed at safer and speedier travel.
As for public relations efforts of the proponents, he said, "Certainly . . . it's true we haven't gone out here and put balloons up." But he and others have talked to civic groups and anyone else who would listen about the need for the link.
John Lambert, of the Roanoke public relations firm John Lambert Associates, has handled PR for the University Connection, a consortium of Tech, New River Valley, Roanoke and legislative heavy hitters who back the link.
"I was not aware of much opposition until certain things appeared in the media such as the six minutes saved for $80 million and other misleading things like that," he said.
The highway department estimates that the road would save about six minutes travel time between Blacksburg and Roanoke in the year 2015. Without "smart" road technology, the link would cost about $81 million.