Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 4, 1993 TAG: 9310040105
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
One of the routes for a proposed north-south interstate highway through Virginia would pass through the Roanoke Valley and follow U.S. 220 south to North Carolina.
John Milliken, Virginia's secretary of transportation, said the Roanoke route is one of several alternatives under study for Interstate 73, which would run from Detroit to Charleston, S.C.
Under that alternative, the highway would follow the U.S. 460 corridor from Princeton, W.Va., to the Blacksburg-Christiansburg area. From there, it would follow Interstate 81 to the Roanoke Valley, then run south along the U.S. 220 corridor.
Roanoke City Council prefers this route, because city officials believe the highway would be an economic boost for the valley.
Mayor David Bowers wants council to mount a campaign to get the road routed through Roanoke.
Another proposed route would follow the Interstate 77 corridor from Princeton to North Carolina, then run east through Mount Airy and Winston-Salem and connect with U.S. 220 near Ashboro.
That's the route that was endorsed earlier by North Carolina transportation officials. But the endorsement has been put on hold.
Milliken said four or five routes through Virginia are being studied; the Roanoke route is the easternmost.
Virginia transportation officials will meet soon with their counterparts in West Virginia and North Carolina to discuss the highway, he said.
Milliken said it's too early to say which route in Virginia will be selected.
Indeed, federal and state highway officials say it's too soon to know whether I-73 will ever be built.
"There is no funding and no authorization to build it now," said Tom Weeks, chief of the planning programs branch of the Federal Highway Administration.
I-73 is included in a proposed national highway system that ls being prepared at Congress' request.
The Detroit-to-Charleston interstate is one of 21 highway corridors that Congress wanted in the plan, Weeks said. But it will include many more proposed highways than just those requested by Congress.
At this point, the state is listening to what localities are saying about the proposed highway, Milliken said. The boards of supervisors in several counties in Western Virginia have approved resolutions supporting specific routes.
Floyd, Giles and Patrick counties want the highway to follow the route of Virginia 8 as it runs south from Christiansburg to the North Carolina border. Montgomery County has not taken a position.
Franklin County favors the Roanoke and U.S. 220 route because it would bisect the county.
Weeks said the states will pretty much determine the proposed route within their boundaries.
If the new interstate follows highway corridors such as U.S. 460 and 220, Milliken said, it is likely the existing roads would be upgraded to interstate standards rather than a new highway being built.
But that could cause problems, because neither U.S. 460 nor U.S. 220 is a limited-access highway like the interstate system, he said.
Milliken said funding could also be a problem because the states might have to pay for the highway from existing sources instead of with new federal money.
Roanoke officials are hoping they will be more successful this time than they were in the fight over I-64 three decades ago.
Roanoke and Lynchburg officials won state approval for a southerly route for I-64 that would have passed through Roanoke. But then-Sen. Harry Byrd persuaded federal highway officials to veto the state-approved route and select a Charlottesville-Staunton alignment.
The new I-73 could provide a significant economic boost for the Roanoke Valley, said James Fonseca, a George Mason University geographer who is writing a book about Virginia.
Multiple interstate highways in an urban area help stimulate economic growth, he said. I-73 would provide better highway connections for Roanoke.
Urban experts say Roanoke's bad road links with other cities, especially fast-growing urban areas in North Carolina, are one reason for the valley's slow growth.
If I-73 is routed through Roanoke and along U.S. 220 south, Fonseca said, it would provide a better connection to cities along I-85 and I-95.
Besides stimulating growth, Fonseca believes an I-73 connection could help boost tourism at several attractions in the region: Booker T. Washington's birthplace; Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest; Patrick Henry's Red Hill; and Appomattox, where the Civil War ended.
Susan Brooker-Gross, a geographer at Virginia Tech, said there are tradeoffs for Roanoke in having another interstate connection.
It would bring more urban growth, development and truck stops, she said, but there might be some people who want to preserve the natural environment.
"The question is whether the overall gain would offset the impact on rural areas," she said.
by CNB