Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994 TAG: 9403170185
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND NOTE: STRIP LENGTH: Long
The Commonwealth Transportation Board got its first look Wednesday at a study of possible routes for the proposed Interstate 73, and most of its questions focused on the creation of new industry and jobs.
Two Virginia Department of Transportation researchers told the board that economic growth requires good roads, but good roads alone won't bring new jobs to an area.
The board is scheduled to vote today on a preferred I-73 route through the state. Congress, however, will have the final word on where the road goes.
I-73 was identified in the 1991 federal highway legislation. It would pass through six states and link Detroit with Charleston, S.C.
In December, the state transportation department's planning staff began a study of seven paths for I-73 through Virginia incorporating 12 alternative corridors. The staff concluded that three of the 12 corridors should be studied further. Two of those follow existing Interstate 77 through Bland, Wythe and Carroll counties, differing only in how they bypass Wytheville. The third would roughly follow U.S. 460 from Bluefield to the Roanoke Valley and U.S. 220 to Martinsville and the North Carolina line. It would incorporate Virginia Tech's experimental ``smart road.''
The 1991 federal law already says I-73 should pass through Bluefield and Winston-Salem, N.C., a requirement that all but eliminates some of the proposed Virginia routes.
One of the Wytheville routes ranked first overall in the staff's study based on five criteria: construction cost, traffic served, environmental impact, public support and economic impact. The U.S. 460/220 Roanoke Valley route ranked second, and the other I-77 route ranked third.
The Roanoke Valley route, however, ranked first in economic benefit, while the two I-77 routes ranked last. State Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez has said he and Gov. George Allen are interested foremost in economic development.
The 460/220 route seemed to run into trouble before the House surface transportation subcommittee Tuesday when Garland Garrett Jr., deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said his state opposed I-73 coming into North Carolina on 220 and preferred the I-77 routes.
But Claude Garver, Virginia's deputy highway commissioner, told the board North Carolina is willing to look at other routes.
The 460/220 route took another blow Tuesday when the Blacksburg Town Council and the Giles County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose it. Transportation board member Lorinda Lionberger of Salem said the board should consider those objections, but that they should be put in the proper perspective.
The Virginia Transportation Research Council in Charlottesville, the Transportation Department's research arm, did two economic studies of I-73 in December. One study, conducted in conjunction with the Virginia Employment Commission, looked at the impact on gas stations, restaurants and motels at the I-73 interchanges.
The other study looked at the broader economic benefits in the creation of new jobs and industry, using increases in taxable sales and gross income as measuring sticks.
The 460/220 route ranked first and the I-77 routes last in both studies. However, the I-77 routes would cost hundreds of millions of dollars less to build.
The first study, which showed the 460/220 route creating roughly 5,000 new jobs at interchange businesses compared with 50 new jobs along the I-77 routes, ``probably overstates the role of service industries some,'' said the research council's Jim Gillespie. But since the study would overstate the job impact on all corridors proportionately, it would not change their rank, he said.
One board member, Philmore Howlett of Richmond, asked whether low-paying jobs at gas stations and fast-food restaurants could be considered economic development.
``I hope new interstates have more than that to offer,'' Joseph Rhea Jr. of Damascus, another board member, said of the low-wage jobs.
``For people who don't have them, they are good jobs,'' Martinez said. ``All jobs are good jobs,'' said board member Thomas Barton Jr. of Virginia Beach.
The second study of broader economic impacts done with computer models shows the 460/220 route creating an additional $36.76 million in gross income annually, which equates to 1,800 $20,000-a-year jobs. That compared with about $5 million for the I-77 routes.
Some board members wondered whether it was possible to predict where and what kind of jobs would be located along a road.
``It's pretty much hopeless for us to guess what kind of business is going to spring up where,'' Gillespie said.
The economic impact of a road will be greater near larger population centers, he said.
``It takes a lot of things brought together at one time to bring about economic development,'' said the research council's Gary Allen. Highways are just one ingredient, he said. But history shows some development attracts more development.
``No one knew or could have predicted where the Disney company was going to make their investment,'' he said.
by CNB