Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 24, 1994 TAG: 9411250025
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A Roanoke business group that wants proposed Interstate 73 to follow existing roads - and avoid Bent Mountain - has picked up the support of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.
The supervisors on Tuesday voted 4-0, with one member absent, to endorse a route for the interstate that would follow U.S. 460 from Bluefield, W. Va., to Blacksburg's "smart road." The route then would follow Interstate 81, Interstate 581 through Roanoke and U.S. 220 into North Carolina.
Interstate 73 is a proposed highway that would run from Detroit to Charleston, S.C.
The route was proposed by the Roanoke Valley Business Council, which says using existing roads makes sense for the area. Not having to cut new roads through communities also would cut down on citizen opposition.
The route endorsed by the Business Council and the supervisors generally follows the route recommended by the state, but is more specific on how I-73 would pass through Roanoke.
Bent Mountain citizens have worked since spring to get their community taken out of contention, and their efforts seem to be picking up momentum. Last month, Virginia Transportation Secretary Robert Martinez bolstered their efforts by saying the Roanoke County mountain probably would not be feasible for a highway.
Bent Mountain showed up on transportation maps that highlighted a five-mile-wide corridor that I-73 could take through Roanoke. Residents there mobilized, even though the Virginia Department of Transportation has not yet narrowed a path.
But rather than praising the supervisors' actions, a spokeswoman for the Bent Mountain group, Blue Ridge Interstate Impact Network, questioned why they didn't wait until they could get more citizen input.
"I'm not sure how the people who live on 220 feel about it," Diane Rosolowsky said. "The thing that bothers me is there was not public discussion. ... That is wrong. These things affect people in the way they live."
The I-73 proposal from the Roanoke Valley Business Council came in too late to be placed on the agenda prepared last week, so supervisors added it to their agenda before the meeting started Tuesday. There was little discussion about the issue before supervisors passed it.
"This will certainly make the folks on Bent Mountain happier," Chairman Lee Eddy said after the vote.
State Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, has been a strong supporter of I-73. He said he doesn't care what route the highway takes, as long as it comes through Roanoke. Using I-81 will be fine in the short term - which he defines as 25 years - but eventually, I-73 will need its own road.
"Somewhere down the road ... we will have to look at a western [circumferential highway] around the valley because we already have to widen 81 to eight lanes, [even] without any additional traffic from 73," he said.
by CNB