Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993 TAG: 9311090214
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Four of the six speakers favored the five-mile stretch from south Blacksburg to Interstate 81, about 2 1/2 miles north of Exit 118 in Christiansburg.
Even so, the two-hour forum, sponsored by the Montgomery County League of Women Voters, was dominated by opponents of the project in the audience who took advantage of a question-and-answer session to express their views.
Their most frequent complaint was that the public has been shut out during the smart road's decision-making process.
"From its inception, this has been behind closed doors," said Don Schumacher, a panelist from the New River Valley Sierra Club. "The process ignores the spirit, if not the law, of citizen input."
Dan Brugh, resident engineer for the state Department of Transportation, replied that there have been two public hearings on the project and countless informational meeting the public could attend.
Schumacher and Dan Fleming, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech, spoke against the project. Panelists in favor of the project were Roger Hedgepeth, Blacksburg's mayor; Antoine Hobeika, director of Virginia Tech's Center for Transportation; Brian Wishneff, Roanoke's director of economic development; and Brugh.
The federal government has signed off on the road's environmental impact statement, but there is no funding for the $82 million four-lane highway.
It will be funded from nontraditional sources, such as a bond issue, federal grants and corporate donations, and will not compete for limited funds with other projects in the Salem transportation district or elsewhere in the state.
The speakers traded jabs on virtually the same points they have been debating since the road was proposed in 1986.
Naysayers believe the project is a waste of money that will destroy the environment in the Ellett Valley and benefit only big business.
Supporters, however, counter that the road will pour millions of dollars into the Roanoke and New River valleys and stimulate the region's economy.
Hobeika said it was important to find funding for the road so federal research dollars will be funneled into the area.
Intelligent-vehicle systems are the way of the future and "it's important for us to step up and be a leader," he said. If not, then the money will go to Texas, California or Michigan, he added.
Fleming and Schumacher argued that the smart-road technology should instead be used on the proposed bypass between Christiansburg and Blacksburg - known as the 3A option.
Brugh said the route for 3A isn't large enough to serve as a complete test bed for intelligent-vehicle technology.
"But some things can and will go into 3A," he said.
Another arguement thrown at the panel was that the time saved by the link - said to be from 6 to 13 minutes - is hardly worth $80 million.
Hedgepeth said the time saved is irrelevant, because the road's main purpose is to move some of the traffic off the highly congested stretch of U.S. 460 between Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
"Even if it doesn't save one minute, then it would still be needed, because it gets 25 percent of the traffic out of that corridor," he said.
by CNB