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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 19, 1994                   TAG: 9403190025
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AS I-73 HEADS TO D. C., SOME CONFESS TO WAFFLING

As the Interstate 73 issue rumbles now onto Washington, in its wake lie the many local governments across Southwest Virginia which passed resolutions on the highway in recent months.

Many of those bodies are undoubtably pleased at the state Transportation Board's decision Thursday to recommend routing the Detroit-to-Charleston, S.C. along U.S. 460/220 through Roanoke and Franklin Counties on through Martinsville to Greensboro, N.C.

Some though, aren't. Most notably, those are in Blacksburg and Giles County, both of whose leaders came out against the highway earlier this week - after initially passing resolutions seemingly in support of it.

At first glance, that would seem to be a clear cut case of waffling: politicians jumping on the bandwagon because their counterparts are, then bailing out when the opposition gets fired up.

It that's the case, then Giles County fesses up.

"I think everybody got a little ahead of themselves," said Giles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry "Jay" Williams. "I know we did."

"We made a mistake that night," when the Board voted last August to adopt a resolution supporting the highway's coming through the county, he said.

That was long before the fuss raised by local activists in Blacksburg and Giles, Montgomery and Roanoke counties who argued, for one thing, that the governments weren't informed enough in the first place to be passing judgement on whether an interstate would be the right thing for their localities.

"At the time it seemed like a good thing to do," Williams said. "Just the concept of a major highway coming through sounds good at first."

But after Giles County residents assailed supervisors with complaints - "there for a night I got 20 calls a night and they were all against," said Williams - the body passed a resolution saying it didn't want I-73 running through the county.

Blacksburg Town Council voted this week not to support I-73 running through Blacksburg, but members say their new resolution doesn't equate to a reversal of January's.

"The one is January was a very, very early on effort before anyone knew anything about I-73," said Councilman Waldon Kerns. "We at no time favored any route.

by CNB