ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
Relief is on the way for residents of Roanoke's Westside Boulevard.
City Council on Monday approved funding for a new road into Roanoke Electric Steel Corp.'s plant in Northwest Roanoke that will remove 365 trucks a day from Westside Boulevard. The street also serves a neighborhood of 500 residents.
The new access road to the steel plant will run south and west of neighborhoods around Westside and connect with the new Peters Creek Road extension.
Council approved an appropriation of up to $260,000 to the city's Industrial Development Authority to be used as a grant to Roanoke Electric Steel for building a portion of the road. In June, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved $323,850 in industrial access funds that will also help pay for the road.
Roanoke Electric Steel truck traffic on the boulevard amounts to 325 trips per day, but that number is expected to increase with completion of the company's $14 million expansion.
Besides improving safety on Westside Boulevard and the quality of life for residents, the new road should help eliminate access problems to the steel plant that result from flooding along the road, the city said.
LENGTH: Short : 32 linesby CNB