Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 7, 1993 TAG: 9306070008
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: Virginia hasn't made any plans, but the neighboring states have and they're expecting this road to be in the vicinity of the Interstate 77 corridor in Southwest Virginia.
I-73 is part of the 1991 federal highway act that created the concept for a national highway system. I-73 would run from Detroit to Charleston, S.C., providing a Midwest-to-South link that's lacking in the interstate system.
North Carolina and West Virginia have begun some serious planning for this road, and the Mountaineer folks know where their money's coming from - a good thing, since new interstate costs about $10 million a mile in southern West Virginia's mountains.
The new road won't start coming into use until the year 2010, at least, most transportation experts say. It will follow existing roadways wherever possible, upgrading them gradually to interstate standards.
I-73 figures to affect our region primarily in two ways: by bringing more traffic through the Wytheville area, and by making it easier for Roanoke-area vacationers to get to South Carolina.
Wytheville-area interests have said another interstate on the I-77 lanes would add to bottlenecks at the Bland County tunnels, which were backed up during the March blizzard, a recent vehicle fire and holiday traffic jams.
North Carolina plans to bring the road into the U.S. 220 corridor just south of Greensboro at Randleman. It would head south past Rockingham, good news to beach fans who have mingled with Rockingham's Saturday mall traffic along U.S. 74.
South Carolina hasn't picked a route for I-73, but a spokesman said, "We would very much like to see it come near Myrtle Beach."
In West Virginia, I-73 would roughly follow U.S. 52, from Huntington through Williamson to Bluefield.
The road is regarded in transportation circles as the brainchild of Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, and the 1991 legislation provided more than $100 million to West Virginia. Other states got zilch. West Virginia also is taxing gas 10 cents a gallon for road money.
Plantation myth
Q: At Elliston there is place called Fotheringay, an old plantation where the owner supposedly was buried sitting up so he could look over the plantation and the slaves. Where are the slaves buried? Has there been any effort to mark those graves? J.B., Shawsville
A: That myth about the owner buried upright is "an old chestnut," said George Kegley, a member of the Roanoke Historical Society who has served as tour guide for bus trips there.
People have looked into the crypt and the remains were in the usual position, he said.
There has been no real effort to include a slave burial site in the historical tour of the plantation. Like any old farm or plantation, it probably has at least one cemetery, he said.
Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB