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

DATE: TUESDAY, September 13, 1994                   TAG: 9409130082
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MEETING SET ON NEW ROAD PROJECTS

Interstate 73, the "smart" road, U.S. 58 and several other new and expanded roads are slated to criss-cross parts of Southwest Virginia in the coming decades.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Roanoke Valley Science Museum Planetarium in downtown Roanoke., the Blue Ridge Environmental Network will sponsor a public discussion about six major road projects proposed for the region.

The organization calls it a comprehensive overview of the construction proposals, focusing on ecological rather than economic impacts. The projects include:

Construction of the "smart" highway from I-81 to Blacksburg;

The rerouting and four-laning of U.S. 58 through the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area;

The six-laning of I-81 from Buchanan to Christiansburg;

The construction of I-66, an east-to-west TransAmerica highway;

Construction of I-83 from Roanoke to Greensboro; and

Construction of I-73 from Detroit to Charleston, through Southwest Virginia.

The panel will include Steve Sherwood, who oversees the Mount Rogers area for the Jefferson National Forest; Fred Altizer, district administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation; Shireen Parsons with the Sierra Club's New River Valley chapter; Debra Dull of the New Century Council; and Diane Rosolowsky of the Blue Ridge Interstate Impact Network.

Memo: a longer version ran in the New River edition.

by CNB