Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 2, 1994 TAG: 9403020097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEVE KARK CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
Voting on the Planning Commission's recommendation that the county not endorse the route for proposed Interstate 73, the supervisors - with one supervisor missing because of an extended illness - failed to reach a majority.
Supervisors Larry "Jay" Williams and Bobby Compton voted against the route, while George Hedrick favored it and Samuel "Ted" Timberlake abstained.
Last July, the supervisors endorsed a study of the feasibility of routing the highway along 460 through Giles and Montgomery counties, and Virginia 8 through Floyd County.
Both West Virginia and North Carolina have determined the paths that the proposed highway would take through those states. The route through Giles County is one of seven being considering in Southwest Virginia.
Robyn Boucher and two companions, who also spoke on the same issue at a Monday night meeting of the Montgomery County supervisors, addressed the board and shared detailed maps of the proposed routes.
Boucher said that although she lived in Montgomery County, she thought she needed to share the more detailed maps - which she had obtained from Richmond - because the proposed highway would affect the whole New River Valley, not just one county.
"We're asking you to consider the effects that a six- to eight-lane superhighway would have on your community, and we hope that all the county governments in the region will get together to reconsider this," she said. "... This highway will change the face of this whole area forever."
Boucher also said that although the map shows two alternate routes, which could affect property a mile on both sides of either one, transportation officials told her that the corridor of a proposed study could extend as far as 5 to 10 miles beyond that.
Resident Engineer Dan Brugh agreed, saying that the Transportation Department typically examines such wide corridors when planning an interstate highway to find the best possible route.
Responding to rumors that the highway would cross the county without offering access to local traffic, Brugh pointed out that such highways typically are planned with exits every five miles. That would probably give the county about seven exits, he said.
He stressed that planning for the highway is in its earliest stages, and that no state funds have been allocated.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***