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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 10, 1994                   TAG: 9403100080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STUDY LIMITED TO INTERCHANGES

The department's planning staff, with the help of the Virginia Employment Commission, made estimates of the number of jobs that would be created at gas stations, restaurants and motels at the interchanges.

The planners did not attempt to examine the much broader impact the proposed routes could have on industrial and commercial development in the regions through which they would pass.

Bruce Clarke, an assistant state planning engineer, said the department did not have enough time to go beyond the study of the interchanges.

The state began the corridor study for the Virginia portion of the proposed Detroit-to-Charleston, S.C., interstate in December. The study looked at seven basic routes and 12 possible corridors within those routes.

The corridor for the road that ranked highest in terms of its economic impact is one that would follow U.S. 460 from Bluefield, W.Va., through western Roanoke Valley and U.S. 220 from near Boones Mill to the North Carolina line. The route would incorporate the experimental "smart road" between Blacksburg and Roanoke.

The I-73 route that ranked highest when all planning criteria were taken into account was one that would follow existing Interstate 77 in Bland, Wythe and Carroll counties. In ranking the routes the Transportation Department staff considered construction cost, traffic served, public support, environmental impact and economic impact.

The Roanoke Valley route ranked second-highest when all criteria were considered. In third place was another I-77 route that bypasses Wytheville on the east rather than the west as the top-ranked route does. The planning staff suggested the top three routes all be given further consideration.

For ranking purposes, the staff members considered each of the criteria to be of equal importance . They suggested that in making a decision on the route that it might be appropriate to give some criteria more weight than others.

State Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez, who also serves as chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, believes the economic impact of a route should carry more weight than such things as the traffic it serves.

"The board is an independent board but it is a pro-economic-development board," Martinez said. He also pointed out that both he and Gov. George Allen put a high priority on economic development.

Dr. Carl Stark of Wytheville, president of the Great Lakes to Florida Highway Association, which has endorsed the I-77 route for I-73, said he guessed the selection of a route for the road will come down to a decision on why the road is being built.

If the purpose is to move people north and south through Virginia, then I-77 is the best route, Stark said. "If the purpose is to spend all that money," the Roanoke Valley route is best, he said.

The VDOT staff estimated the total cost of building the top-ranked route along existing I-77, including right-of-way acquisition, at $789 million. The estimated cost of building the I-73 on the 460/220 route through the Roanoke Valley is $1.26 billion.

The state could better spend its money improving U.S. 460 between Roanoke and Norfolk to make it easier to get to the ports of Hampton Roads, Stark said. An investment in I-73 would direct commerce toward the port at Charleston, S.C., he said.

The economic impact for the entire state, not just the Roanoke Valley, should be considered, Stark said.

The Transportation Board will discuss the corridor study at its meeting next Thursday in Richmond.

The board is under pressure to select a route for the road and forward its decision to Congress, which is working on legislation that would establish a route in federal law. Congress usually pays 80 percent of the cost of interstate highways.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, who represents the part of Virginia from Roanoke County west, said he will not comment on the road's route until the state makes a decision.

Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, and Sen. John Warner, R-Va., all have endorsed the 460/220 route.