Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 22, 1993 TAG: 9310220142
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG LENGTH: Medium
Secretary of Transportation John Milliken said the state plans to make that section a priority as plans to widen the interstate corridor are made final. Milliken was one of the primary speakers at the Western Virginia Strategic Development Conference held Thursday at James Madison University.
Virginia's top transportation official talked mainly about plans to improve worn and outdated I-81, which runs 328 miles in the state from Winchester to Bristol.
"We aren't talking about something that's unsafe, but we are talking about something that's creaky and old and needs to be improved," he said. "That road is the economic lifeline of Western Virginia."
It's been 30 years since the highway has seen any major rebuilding. Plans for widening parts of the road are in the state's six-year plan, but like so many other road projects, the funds aren't available.
Milliken said a 32-mile stretch from just north of Roanoke to Christiansburg is one of three portions of the road that state officials have agreed deserve top priority.
It's expected to cost roughly $175 million to improve and widen that section, and the state has allocated just $75 million.
"Obviously, we have a big gap," Milliken said.
Likewise, the state has only $30 million of the $105 million it needs to widen a 20-mile segment from Abingdon to Bristol.
There is one stretch of the road, however, that does have funds available for repaving.
Milliken said $18.5 million has been set aside to pave a 13-mile stretch of badly deteriorating pavement in Botetourt County.
The state is just starting to make engineering and design decisions on improvements for the interstate, and localities are encouraged to offer input.
"These decisions can't be made in a vacuum by an agency in Richmond," he said.
For instance, the state must decide if the interstate in the Roanoke area should be widened from four lanes to six, or whether it should be eight lanes. About 22,000 cars a day travel by the Roanoke Valley on I-81 now, and that number is expected to double by 2010.
Leo Bevon, director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, said travel on the interstate is especially treacherous because of the high number of trucks that use it.
"Cars are virtually frozen out of the corridor at times, because of the high truck traffic," he said.
Milliken said there isn't a definite start date for the project yet and warned it probably will be well into the next century before it's finished.
"For some of you, I know that can't come soon enough," he said.
by CNB