Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993 TAG: 9312100173
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Alleghany Highlands region wants the road to follow the Interstate 64 corridor from West Virginia to Clifton Forge, instead of the U.S. 460 corridor through Southwest Virginia.
From Clifton Forge, the proposed I-73 would follow the U.S. 220 corridor south to Roanoke. The highway then would follow 220 to the North Carolina line.
Governmental leaders in the Alleghany area tried Thursday to persuade the Fifth Planning District Executive Committee to endorse the I-64 route.
They said the I-64 route would benefit the Roanoke Valley just as much as the U.S. 460 route, which has been endorsed by the valley governing bodies and many localities in Southwest Virginia.
The Alleghany leaders might be fighting an uphill fight. In addition to the localities in the New River Valley which favor the U.S. 460 route, they will have to battle some localities in other areas, too.
The Blue Ridge Region of Virginia has gathered 26 endorsements of the U.S. 460/220 route by governing bodies, chambers of commerce and state legislators in the region.
About 20 leaders from the Blue Ridge area will meet with top officials in the Virginia Department of Transportation next week to lobby for the route, said William Board, secretary of the economic development organization.
But the Alleghany leaders will pursue their campaign for the I-64 alignment.
Clarence Farmer, chairman of the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors, said the region is economically depressed and needs help.
"Anything you can do to get the highway to come through our area will help us. The road would still pass through Roanoke and go south along the U.S. 220 corridor," Farmer told the planning district members.
Covington Mayor Jack Jamison said the entire planning district would benefit if I-73 follows the I-64 corridor, passes through the Alleghany Highlands and then turns south to Roanoke.
If the U.S. 460 corridor is followed, Jamison said, the new highway would benefit only the Roanoke Valley and the southern part of the planning district.
"It will help just one corner of the planning district," Jamison said.
Representatives of the Roanoke Valley governments said they understood Alleghany's case for the road.
But they were hesitant to support a route different than the 460/220 alignment which has been endorsed by their governing bodies.
"We had assumed the road would come down the U.S. 460 corridor," said Howard Packett, a Salem City Council member.
Roanoke Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles said she would be in an awkward situation if she voted for a route different from the one approved by council.
The planning district's executive committee delayed a decision until next month, so Roanoke Valley representatives can confer with their governing bodies.
Lawrence Caldwell, principal transportation engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said the I-64 route will be studied along with other proposed alignments.
The state was not aware of the I-64 option until recently, but it will be considered, Caldwell said.
Under the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, Congress called for the creation of I-73 linking Detroit and Charleston, S.C. The states will make the decision on the route for the new highway.
Some members of the planning committee said the I-64 route might be impossible if West Virginia routes the road through Bluefield. "If that happens, I-64 would be out," one member said.
Other possible routes through Virginia would be Interstate 77 and Virginia 8.
State officials said it may take several years to choose a route and there is no timetable for construction.
Fifteen business people in Franklin and Henry counties and Rockingham County, N.C., have formed a lobbying group, known as Job Link, to lobby for I-73 to run from Roanoke to Greensboro, N.C.
by CNB