460 LINK ROAD PROPOSAL BEING WORKED ON

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

DATE: THURSDAY, April 1, 1993                   TAG: 9304010221
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
460 LINK ROAD PROPOSAL BEING WORKED ON
The Virginia Department of Transportation has started preliminary engineering for a proposed road that would link Hubbard Street to the U.S. 460 bypass.
The highway department has come up with three possible routes for the road and they were presented to Town Council at a work session Tuesday.
The proposal that was met with the most support from council would extend from Hubbard Street, wind around the airport and tie into Southgate Drive behind Lane Stadium near the German Club. A cul-de-sac would be built on Southgate, preventing traffic from entering the residential section of the street.
It also would include a link connecting it to Country Club Drive and a new grade-separated interchange would be built at the bypass.
"It's a major project that would be a significant addition to our town transportation system," said Town Manager Ron Secrist. "This is all preliminary engineering and it will probably be changed several times even before the first public hearing is held."
Adele Schirmer, public works director for the town, will take Town Council's comments back to the highway department and planning for the road will continue.
The department estimates that the road - to be built with state money - will cost about $19 million, meaning the project will tie up Blacksburg's state road money for nearly a decade.
Councilman Michael Chandler said the town should think long and hard before committing to such an expensive project.
"That's a heckuva a price to pay for a road that will help, but I'm not sure how much," he said.
The road is third on the town's list of road projects, behind the widening of Glade Road and the western extension of Patrick Henry Drive to University City Boulevard.
This is clearly a project that will stretch into the next century, Secrist said.
The new road is needed to provide better access from South Main Street to Tech's campus, the town manager said. The main route now used is Washington Street, mainly a residential road.
The road was proposed several years ago when Snyder-Hunt Corp. unveiled plans for Hethwood II, a proposed 1,400-unit residential community just west of the U.S. 460 bypass. Plans for the development have been shelved, but the road project has remained a town priority.
In 1990, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors passed a resolution in support of the road that will run through campus.
In addition to its preferred route, council also reviewed the highway department's other possible routes for the road.
A second possible route, very similar to the one council prefers, would wind along the edge of Virginia Tech's airport property, intersect with Tech Center Drive and tie into Southgate Drive at Duck Pond Road.
A third proposal - met with opposition from council - would extend Country Club Drive straight across Tech's campus, with a new interchange at the U.S. 460 bypass.
Council members were against that route because they feared it would direct more traffic into the residential areas of Country Club Drive.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB