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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 14, 1994                   TAG: 9405160149
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

I-73 PATH SUPPORT RETAINED

State Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez stressed Friday that Interstate 83 - a proposed road linking Roanoke and Greensboro - won't deter Virginia's efforts to route Interstate 73 along the same corridor.

"That road should be looked at as a component, not as a replacement of I-73," he said.

A House of Representatives subcommittee approved legislation Friday that includes $5 million for initial planning and engineering of a new interstate-quality highway linking Interstate 81 to Interstate 40 in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region.

The bill did not include any mention of I-73, another proposed interstate between Detroit and Charleston, S.C. The Commonwealth Transportation Board decided in March that road should also follow the general path of U.S. 220 from Roanoke to North Carolina.

Upgrading of the 220 corridor has been pushed as an economic development project by a coalition of North Carolina and Virginia businessmen who praised the subcommittee's action.

And while Martinez doesn't want to dampen the spirits of folks excited about Interstate 83, he does think the project should be put into perspective.

"I think it's great ... but $5 million isn't a lot of money when you're talking about building an interstate."

Martinez said he thinks of that money as a "down payment" toward the more than $1 billion it would cost to build I-73 from Bluefield, WVa., through Blacksburg and Roanoke and into North Carolina.

Action was delayed on I-73, Martinez said, because Virginia and North Carolina haven't agreed where the road should cross the border. Virginia wants the road to enter North Carolina south of Martinsville, but North Carolina wants it to enter south of Hillsville along existing I-77.

Martinez said Friday that he feels certain an agreement can be reached once representatives from the two states meet face to face.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, favors the I-77 route and he urged the House subcommittee to delay action on I-73.

But Martinez said he's not worried about Boucher's opposition because Virginia has more than enough congressional support for the U.S. 460-220 route.

by CNB