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

DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993                   TAG: 9312100035
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

KEY ROADS ARE DESIGNATED AS SUPERHIGHWAY OF FUTURE

Nearly 160,000 miles of American highways were designated key roads by the Clinton administration Thursday in a plan to qualify them for billions of dollars in federal aid.

Officials said designating such a highway network, subject to congressional approval, is the first step in putting together a transportation system to handle the needs of the 21st century.

Transportation Secretary Federico Pena also called for an end to pork-barrel practices in which public works projects are awarded based on political clout.

Federal Highway Administrator Rodney Slater outlined the proposed highway system at a ceremony at Union Station, the capital city's rail hub.

"The national highway system is going to be the backbone of our national transportation network in the 21st century . . . providing the means for sustained economic strength, productivity growth and competitiveness in the global marketplace," Slater said.

Congress ordered the designation of a highway network in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act that calls for spending about $155 billion through 1997.

The designated roads, about 4 percent of the nation's 3.9 million miles of highways, carry more than 40 percent of the nation's traffic.

Several roads in the Roanoke area are on the map. They include U.S. 11, U.S. 11A, U.S. 460, Virginia 117 (Peters Creek Road), Virginia 419, U.S. 220 and U.S. 220A.

U.S. 58 west of Martinsville to Cumberland Gap in Lee County is not included. A spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation said the state is not depending on funding for the national system for the planned improvements to that stretch of highway.

The stakes are high and there likely will be some vigorous horse trading in Congress before a final network is approved.

The 1991 transportation bill sets aside about $6.5 billion a year for roads that are made part of the national system of key highways.

Pena said Thursday the administration's long-range goal is "a blueprint for America's 21st century transportation needs" that will link rail, air and highway routes.

by CNB