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

DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990                   TAG: 9007210119
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GROUP TO STUDY I-81 ECONOMICS

A task force studying future economic development along Interstate 81 has agreed to focus initially on interchanges where gas stations and fast-food outlets may spoil the potential for better projects.

The new Interstate 81 Corridor Council said Friday it is planning an economic study of five interchanges with the greatest potential and fragility along the 314-mile route from Bristol to Winchester.

The study would be the first phase of the group's proposal for a strategic development plan for the highway's path through Virginia. The gateway interchanges will be chosen from each of the five planning districts along I-81.

Priority will be given intersections "at jeopardy of being lost to unplanned low economic return developments," according to a draft plan, prepared by Randi Lemon, regional planner for New River Planning District at Radford.

The potential of such intersections as sites for factories, offices, commercial business, motels and restaurants, is increasingly being lost to lesser projects, he said.

Lemon said the study will look at innovative techniques by local governments to manage development better at highway interchanges and at patterns of interchanges across the nation.

Appropriate land use and the areas suitable for development will be analyzed.

The council, formed by a group of planning district officials, will apply to the Economic Development Administration for a $25,000 grant to pay for the interchange study. The members will seek about $7,000 in planning district funds for the project.

One of the work teams for the project will be comprised of Virginia Tech graduate students in urban affairs and planning, led by Tim Fluck. The study should be completed by April, Lemon said.

Wayne Strickland, council chairman and executive director of the Fifth Planning District, said the group will seek other members from banks, utilities, railroads and other businesses along the interstate corridor.

The council expects to participate in the governor's rural development conference in Roanoke Sept. 20-21.

by CNB