ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512110002
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Congress did its part. It passed a National Highway System bill this fall that spells out a route for new Interstate 73.
Now it's up to the state - specifically the Commonwealth Transportation Board - to decide how soon the Virginia segment of the road will get built.
Government and business leaders in Western Virginia will be pressuring the state to move ahead with planning as soon as possible. The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, for instance, has made I-73 its top transportation priority. "We can't afford to let this road not be taken care of," said Bud Oakey, the chamber's lobbyist.
I-73, when complete, will stretch from Grayling in north central Michigan to Charleston, S.C. The road will enter Virginia at Bluefield, follow the path of U.S. 460 to Blacksburg, the "smart" road and I-81 and I-581 to Roanoke, and U.S. 220 past Martinsville to the North Carolina line.
The National Highway System bill provides $6.5 billion annually to the states to maintain a 160,000-mile system of roads that carry the bulk of the nation's highway traffic. Virginia's share is $150 million, which the state must match with $30 million of its own. It's up to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, a group of 16 appointees of the governor, to decide how to spend the federal dollars.
I-73 will have to compete for a place in line with other highway projects all around the state, including other projects around Roanoke. For example, the funds that will go toward the widening of I-81 from Buchanan to Christiansburg will come from the same pot as those for the design and construction of I-73.
"I'm certain people want to know when [I-73 will be built]," said Lorinda Lionberger, the Salem Transportation District's representative on the Commonwealth Transportation Board. "I think we all would like to see some funding develop for the beginning of preliminary planning," she said.
The board's six-year improvement plan includes $250,000 in the current budget year for preliminary engineering work on I-73. That amount, however, is only a small portion of what would be needed to do the planning work. The next opportunity the board will have to provide more money for I-73 will be next June when it votes on its next six-year plan.
Even if I-73 were the only project the state were working on, it would take four or five years of planning before any construction could begin, Virginia Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez said. The decision on the road's alignment will require lots of public hearings, he said.
The near-term funding needs during the design and preliminary engineering phases of I-73 will be modest compared to what will be needed when construction begins, Martinez said. The state's first estimate of the cost of building I-73 was $1.25 billion, but that was made before a plan to take the road over Bent Mountain was abandoned.
Many contend that the part of I-73 in Virginia that should be built first is the southern segment between Roanoke and the North Carolina line. That stretch probably would get the top priority, Martinez said, because it offers the greatest economic benefit and because of safety factors on current U.S. 220.
George Lester, a Martinsville businessman, said I-73 is needed not just to bring new business to the region south of Roanoke but to protect existing jobs. Lester is chairman of Job Link, the coalition of business people in Franklin and Henry counties in Virginia and Rockingham County in North Carolina that has pushed for an interstate-quality highway between Roanoke and North Carolina.
Although supporters of the road face formidable competition from Northern Virginia and Tidewater, people from the New River Valley, the Roanoke Valley and the Piedmont can be a powerful political force if they work together, Lester said. "Regional cooperation is the reason we've come as far as we have as fast as we have," he said.
To get I-73 built, it may take some special funding, like the bonds the General Assembly authorized for the improvement of U.S. 58. Lester noted that both North Carolina and West Virginia, each of which raised state gas taxes to help pay for roads, already have portions of I-73 under construction.
"I wouldn't count on that at all," Martinez said of special funding for the road. "Nor do I think it appropriate at this time." The reason, he said, would become clear when Virginia Gov. George Allen makes his state revenue projections to the General Assembly's money committees on Dec. 18.
The General Assembly has passed a resolution supporting I-73, but if the road's supporters need additional legislation, they should let their lawmakers know, said Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke. "I hesitate to rush in like some bull in the china shop until my representative on the Commonwealth Transportation Board says it's time to do so," Woodrum said.
On the federal level, Congress this year opted to give highway money to the states in lump sums and let them decide how to spend it rather than designating money for specific projects. If Congress does it differently next year, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, said he would definitely push for funding for I-73. Otherwise, he will work with state officials to encourage work on the road, Goodlatte said.
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