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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991                   TAG: 9103290710
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PANEL WANTS I-81 TO BE PART OF `SMART' ROAD

The Fifth Planning District Commission voted Thursday to urge the federal and state governments to fund a demonstration program for an intelligent vehicle/highway system on I-81.

The commission and state already have endorsed the concept of a test road as part of the proposed Blacksburg-Roanoke highway.

Wayne Strickland, executive director of the regional planning commission, said the vote expands the proposal to include I-81 as well as the Blacksburg-Roanoke road.

"This doesn't conflict with the earlier proposal, but just suggests a larger testing of the technology throughout the I-81 corridor," Strickland said.

The I-81 Corridor Council, a coalition of five regional planning districts trying to stimulate economic development in Western Virginia, initiated the I-81 proposal.

The other four planning district commissions also will be asked to endorse it, Strickland said.

Antoine Hobeika, director of Virginia Tech's Center for Transportation Research, recently spoke to the I-81 Corridor Council about intelligent vehicle/highway system technology.

He said that because I-81 carries a lot of truck traffic, it would be a good place to study how electronic message signs, pavement sensors and other technology could be used to improve safety on steep grades and in bad weather.

Strickland said there has been discussion about the possibility of widening I-81 to six lanes, and the technology easily could be incorporated into any improvements. The technology also could be tested on I-81 even if the highway is not widened, he said.