THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601150053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Civic leaders said they were satisfied to have Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. on the record as supporting the priority of building Interstate 74 through the Triad first.
Hunt reaffirmed last week that the portion of I-74 through Surry, Stokes and Forsyth counties will have priority over other segments as North Carolina builds its section of the multistate road project.
Hunt did not announce plans to shift or allocate new money for the project during a news conference in which a new map of the road project was displayed.
Legislation in 1991 stipulated that a new interstate to be called I-73 would run from Detroit to Charleston, S.C., by way of Winston-Salem.
But Virginia wanted to run the interstate through Roanoke. That view prevailed after the Republicans took control of the Senate and made Sen. John Warner of Virginia the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees highway designations.
A compromise led to the designation of two new interstates: I-74 for the route that North Carolina wanted and I-73 as the route that Virginia wanted.
Under that plan, I-73 would split from Interstate 77 near Bluefield, W.Va., and veer east to Roanoke, then cut south into North Carolina along U.S. 220.
The new I-74 still would enter North Carolina from the north along Interstate 77 in Surry County, jog east along the 77-52 connector and then run south along U.S. 52, which would be improved to interstate standards.
The interstate would leave U.S. 52 and follow the eastern leg of the northern beltway to U.S. 311 in southeast Forsyth County. It would follow U.S. 311 into High Point and link up with U.S. 220 north of Asheboro.
President Clinton signed the bill authorizing the twin interstates in November, but Congress did not include any money to build them. That will be up to the states.
Financing for the eastern leg of the city's northern beltway may have to be moved up, said Dalton Ruffin, Winston-Salem's member of the state Board of Transportation. The eastern leg of the beltway will become part of the new I-74 through Winston-Salem.
Last year's version of the state Transportation Improvement Program, which runs through 2002, did not include any money for building the eastern leg.
The corridor for the eastern leg has not been determined, but state highway planners have said they would announce the corridor within a month. by CNB