Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 18, 1994 TAG: 9403180278
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER NOTE: above
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Few were surprised by the state transportation board's vote Thursday to recommend routing I-73 along U.S. 460/220 and incorporate the "smart road" with it.
"That's big news for Roanoke," said Mayor David Bowers.
He repeated the oft-heard refrains of I-73 supporters.
The highway, if built, will bring better access to the Carolinas, an influx of highway dollars, plus jobs and economic development.
"The Russians have a saying, `the marketplace doesn't come to you. You've got to go to the marketplace,'" he said.
Earlier in the day, he had said of the pending board recommendation, "If it doesn't pass, it wouldn't be for lack of trying. I'm glad we maintained the effort."
But for all the efforts by Roanoke, some nearby counties and business interests, there were other efforts whose hopes were dealt a harsh blow Thursday.
"It was not totally unexpected," said Robin Boucher, one of the leaders of a citizen group opposed to the interstate. Over the last month her group began lobbying with Blacksburg, Montgomery and Roanoke counties and area politicians.
"I'm really hoping that the federal government does have some sense about it," she said. "But I'm afraid that the decision has already been made.
"We'll definitely keep carrying on."
As her group carries on, the issue now shifts to the federal level, as Congress ponders where it wants the highway to go when and if it's built. Now the states must lobby the federal government.
For the local governments, business people and activists who worked to influence Virginia's recommendation, the fruits of their efforts have now been harvested.
"Happy is an understatement," said Frank Novakowski, executive director for the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. "If there's an adjective greater than that, something along the lines of 'delighted' or 'ecstatic' ... "
"It makes me feel great," said Ron Willard, a Smith Mountain Lake developer and a committee member of Job Link, a group of business people from Southside Virginia and neighboring Rockingham County, N.C., who lobbied for a Roanoke-to-Greensboro link.
The highway would be a vast improvement over U.S. 220 and would get people from the Roanoke Valley to Greensboro more quickly, he said.
And "we all know that once you get roads, you get economic growth," he said. "If they can follow that smart road path and bring it all together, then I think that makes sense, too."
Some don't, though.
"People in Richmond are just too far away from the local situation," said Blacksburg Councilman Al Leighton. "I don't think I feel good about it, because they're not listening to the localities."
Blacksburg's council and the Giles County Board of Supervisors passed resolutions earlier this week saying they wanted no part of a new interstate running through their turf.
But Blacksburg Town Councilman Waldon Kerns said of the recommendation: "I expected that.
"Apparently our resolution didn't have much pull in Richmond."
Apparently not as much as governments like Roanoke and Martinsville; the counties of Montgomery, Roanoke, Henry and Franklin; and Job Link. Apparently not as much as a much-heard cry for economic development emanating from the halls of the governor's mansion.
The corridor chosen was ranked first in terms of potential economic development by Virginia Department of Transportation in a study of seven possible corridors.
"I think that Gov. Allen and Secretary [of Transportation Robert] Martinez ... would give great weight to economic development aspects" of the project, said Roanoke County Board of Supervisors Chairman Lee Eddy.
"We worked hard to get that kind of result," Eddy said. "That's good news to me."
"I felt all along that that route made good sense," said Franklin County Board of Supervisors Chairman Wayne Angell.
Angell said Franklin County wants the interstate as a means to improve a winding, curvy U.S. 220 that many deem unsafe.
"I think it's critical that we be served by a better road," Angell said.
The interstate could come none too soon, and probably won't come soon enough, he said.
"I-73 is probably going to be an interstate that is built -maybe, sometime, somewhere," he said. "I don't think we can wait that long."
"We're crying for help to relieve a situation that is frightening."
by CNB