Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: TUESDAY, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511210104 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The 4-3 vote came on the state's intent to condemn 140 acres of private land in a county-designated conservation area. The vote appears to toss a monkey wrench into what has otherwise been a juggernaut of local and state government approval of the smart road since the late 1980s.
No one could say for sure if it would be a momentary obstruction or the beginning of the end for the plan to build a $103 million six-mile link between Blacksburg and Interstate 81 as a proving ground for new traffic-safety technology and as a way to bolster ties between Virginia Tech and Roanoke.
Four supervisors agreed that the state's proposed condemnation would have a significant impact on the private land in county Agricultural and Forest District 7 and that the proposed six-mile highway would not provide a public service in the most economical and practical manner possible.
Supervisor Joe Gorman of Blacksburg, the swing vote, said allowing the highway to cross between Wilson and Den creeks would not enhance the agricultural district.
Longtime smart-road opponents Jim Moore of Blacksburg and Nick Rush of Christiansburg joined him. Supervisor Joe Stewart of Elliston acknowledged he owns land in the road's path, but said he was voting "no" in the public's interest.
The last time the smart road came up for a vote in Montgomery, in 1992, Stewart and Gorman voted for it.
"This has been the first time anybody has paid any attention to the opposition at all," said Shireen Parsons, a Sierra Club chapter member.
While its advocates call it the most important economic development project of the future for both the Roanoke and New River valleys, opponents have said for years the smart highway would be a boondoggle that would duplicate the already approved U.S. 460 bypass while ruining a beautiful, rural stretch of Montgomery County.
Moore made the most detailed arguments against the project, saying it would destroy open space, contribute to flooding problems in Roanoke and undermine the concept of agricultural districts. "Will it buy us $103 million worth of jobs?" he asked.
Supervisor Henry Jablonski made the case for proponents, saying the road would take only 140 acres of a 2,800-acre district and would be a boon to regional cooperation and economic development. He said the demise of the smart road would unnecessarily delay the construction of Alternative 3A, a new connector highway between I-81 and the existing Christiansburg and Blacksburg bypasses of U.S. 460, because highway planners say an interchange of 3A and I-81 at Falling Branch Road would have to be redesigned to handle traffic that otherwise would have gone on the smart highway.
The vote apparently will halt the smart road project pending a decision by the state Transportation Department whether to file an appeal in Montgomery Circuit Court.
County Attorney Roy Thorpe told the board his reading of the law indicates the circuit judge would not have the option of reversing the supervisors' vote. Instead, the judge, if he found the decision unfair, would merely send it back for reconsideration.
by CNB