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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 15, 1994                   TAG: 9404150099
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA.                                LENGTH: Short

CONGRESSIONAL SPOKESMAN: LOWER STANDARDS OK FOR I-73

A proposal to upgrade a portion of U.S. 52 to standards less than those of regular interstates will not prevent eventual interstate designation, a congressional spokesman said Thursday.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., was instrumental in appropriating $118.5 million in federal funds in January for renovating U.S. 52 in southern West Virginia. The highway is scheduled to become part of proposed Interstate 73, which will connect Detroit and Charleston, S.C.

Transportation officials in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia have said federal regulators probably would not bestow interstate designation unless all portions of the route meet rigid specifications.

But Rahall spokesman Jim Zoia disputed that.

Zoia acknowledged that the 1991 federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act declared the interstate highway system complete.

However, the legislation identified 21 routes and corridors that should be included in a second-phase National Highway System, Zoia said.

One of those routes was Interstate 73, he said.

Jill Wilson, spokeswoman for Gov. Gaston Caperton, said Transportation Secretary Charles Miller has assured the governor the state's plan is acceptable.

by CNB