COUNCIL WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IT BACKS ROANOKE LINK

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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992                   TAG: 9202130163
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
COUNCIL WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IT BACKS ROANOKE LINK
The road link with Roanoke wasn't on the agenda Tuesday night, but Blacksburg Town Council talked about it anyway.
Michael Chandler brought the subject up by suggesting the council needed to pass a resolution stating its position on the road alternatives. He reached that conclusion after reviewing the state Department of Transportation's public hearing guidelines.
"I'm interpreting these to say they want a recommendation based on input from the public hearing," he said. "They want a recommendation that's based on the more detailed study."
Town Council has been on record since March 1990 supporting both the direct Blacksburg-Roanoke link - Alternative 6 - and the U.S. 460 bypass-to-bypass connector - Alternative 3A. And several council members wondered if that really needed to be restated, especially in light of a similar resolution passed last December.
But Mayor Roger Hedgepeth also saw the other side of the issue. He said he wondered if the wording of the previous resolutions might be confusing to the state Transportation Board. Confusion might be detrimental to the town's long-term interests, he said, especially in light of the proposal in front of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors to withdraw the county's support for Alternative 6.
"This weekend, I'm going to see what I can do, for it's something I want to look at," Hedgepeth said about the resolution. "After six years, this is not something we want going down the drain if we can do something to refine it."
No action was taken to put the matter on the agenda for the council's Feb. 25 meeting. But with the Transportation Board meeting on Feb. 20, the issue was far from resolved.
In another road matter, Town Manager Ron Secrist told the council he hoped to soon have a recommendation on the speed limit on South Main Street. He is awaiting the completion of construction on the project - the installation of light poles and Hokie stone inlays - before recommending any changes.
The current speed limit is 35 mph. But it had been 45 mph from Hubbard Street to the U.S. 460 bypass before the road was widened to two lanes in each direction with a middle turning lane. The town traffic committee has recommended a speed limit of 40 mph, the same as on Prices Fork Road from University City Boulevard to the town line.
In other business Tuesday, council:

Authorized Transit Manager Michael Connelly to apply for $2.6 million in federal grants and about $840,000 in state aid for the Blacksburg Transit system.
Connelly told the council the bulk of the money - over $2.4 million in federal funds and $534,000 in state money - would be for capital improvements to the system. If Blacksburg Transit receives the grants, it will be able to purchase 12 new buses.
Those vehicles would replace eight small buses that the system started with in 1983 and four used buses recently bought as back-ups.

Granted Virginia Tech a 40-year easement on Prices Fork Road, Barger Street and Otey Street for communication cables.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB