Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 17, 1990 TAG: 9007170051
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A task force charged with studying the economic potential of localities along Interstate 81 also recommended the General Assembly allocate $250,000 for development of a strategic planning program for the region.
The report was issued by the new I-81 Corridor Council, organized by officials of planning districts in the highway's 314-mile path through Virginia between Winchester and Bristol.
The 27-page report cites "a need to create a vision for the future," said Wayne Strickland, executive director of the Fifth Planning District in Roanoke and chairman of the council.
It calls for action by a partnership of state and local governments, economic development agencies and private businesses. "We want to get them all tied in," Strickland said.
The study contrasts the I-81 region's slow, 1.4 percent growth in population during the past decade with the 19.2 percent surge in the "Golden Crescent," the corridor stretching from Northern Virginia through Richmond to Hampton Roads. The state averaged 12.5 percent population growth during the period.
Median income in communities along I-81 ranges from $27,000 to $36,000; the comparable figure for the Golden Crescent is $36,000 to $60,000, the study says.
Alliances with neighboring areas and other agencies are needed along the corridor, the study says, to provide access to specialized information and other resources readily available in metropolitan areas.
Other recommendations from the council are an analysis of land use and suggestions for job creation centers near the 84 interchanges along I-81; plans to provide more help for schools and job training for workers, and establishment of a health care task force to study needed improvements in the corridor. The report also calls for formation of a housing task force to explore ways to meet needs for shelter and a state report on the adequacy of transportation in the corridor.
The council is asking Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia to develop a training program for local and regional leaders. The council wants Tech to join other schools and agencies in preparing a report on the geography of the corridor as well as its economic-social-political conditions.
David Rundgren, executive director of New River Valley Planning District, said the economic development strategy is intended to include the "job corridors" along connecting routes U.S. 460 and 11 and I-77.
Development opportunities are not just at the interchanges, he said.
The corridor has a work force with a strong work ethic "we can build upon," Rundgren said.
As companies locate along the corridor, he said, they will generate business for firms providing support services such as legal, accounting and banking.
Another opportunity for the corridor is the high volume of goods hauled through the region by trucks, the report says.
"It seems we are moving an awful lot of goods from Atlanta and Charlotte into the Northeast . . . We get an awful lot of traffic but we don't have a relative number of businesses and locations," Rundgren said.
The interstate highway and new fiber optic communications make the corridor a natural for cooperative regional efforts, according to the study.
The corridor, following an early settlers' trail through the valley, is dominated by small and medium-sized cities, except for the metropolitan center of Roanoke.
Improving the community quality of life, as well as keeping the physical, social, political and aesthetic environments that contribute to human enjoyment, is a major goal of the council.
As economic development occurs, "care must be taken by both developers and communities to assure that the scenic assets of the region are maintained," the study said.
Strickland said he's asked state Secretary of Economic Development Lawrence Framme to consider using the I-81 program as a model for rural development in other areas of the state.
by CNB