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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 7, 1991                   TAG: 9102070253
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: MARION                                LENGTH: Short

MOUNT ROGERS ACCESS IMPROVEMENT FUNDED

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, said Wednesday that $489,000 in federal funds have been secured to repair, widen and pave a 6.8-mile section of Virginia 603 within Jefferson National Forest in Smyth and Grayson counties.

The road provides access to the 154,000-acre Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. The money came through the public lands highway funds administered by the Federal Highway Administration. The reconstruction will be supervised by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

"Residents of Smyth and Grayson counties, as well as the hundreds of tourists who visit the Jefferson National Forest each year, will benefit from this project," Boucher said. He said it would also allow safer access for campers and for area firefighters when forest fires occur.

- Southwest bureau

by CNB