Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990                   TAG: 9006070305
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RIVER PARKWAY ROUTE TO BE AIRED

The draft report of the environmental impact study - the 200-page document that will identify the proposed route - should be made public by then, said parkway planner Bob Hope.

Once the draft is made public, there is a 60-day period for citizens to file comments on the report. Also, a public hearing will be held midway through the 60-day comment period.

After that, federal officials are expected to make a final decision on the scenic road's route during the winter. Construction could start by fall 1992.

In January, the park service released maps showing its preferred route for the proposed 10-mile river parkway, which would run between Vinton and Hardy Ford at the headwaters of Smith Mountain Lake. Along the way, the parkway would provide the only public access to Explore, the proposed living-history state park on the Bedford-Roanoke county line.

However, the parkway's cost now is expected to be in the $90 million range - far more than the $14.8 million the federal and state governments have appropriated for it. In fact, even the 2\ -mile river parkway link from the Blue Ridge Parkway to Explore is expected to cost more than the amount appropriated.

Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke, has said he will seek additional funding in the 1991 federal highway bill to complete the parkway.

Until then, though, it will be unclear just how much of the parkway can be built - and what action, if any, the federal government might take to acquire land along the entire length of the proposed route even there's only enough money to build part of the road.