Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 15, 1994 TAG: 9411150109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The department sent out a news release Monday inviting people to serve on a 15-member committee that will meet "with the goal of helping us develop smart-road plans which are environmentally responsible," said Dan Brugh, resident engineer with the department's Christiansburg office.
The invitation comes less than a month before the department is due to hold a public information meeting on the smart road and Alternative 3A, a road that would connect the U.S. 460 bypasses around Christiansburg and Blacksburg. That meeting is to be held Dec. 7 at the Holiday Inn in Blacksburg.
Brugh said the committee, which he hopes will organize soon after the December meeting, will have the chance to comment on various aspects of the project, including:
Two different alignments of the road between Ellett Valley and I-81. The department came up with a secondary path this summer after an endangered flower species was discovered close to the road's proposed path, near Virginia 641 in Montgomery County. Both alignments parallel Virginia 641, one on the far side of the ridge, to the west of the existing road, and one on the nearer side, Brugh said.
The type of bridge that will be built to cross Ellett Valley. Some smart-road opponents were up in arms this year after seeing a computer-simulated photo that depicted an imposing 900-foot long bridge crossing the pristine valley. Brugh said a bridge will be built but contended that the simulation was not accurate.
Environmental issues such as controlling water runoff during construction, protection of animal crossings, etc.
But Brugh maintained that a committee, which would have the assistance of the Transportation Department's staff and whose meetings would be open to the public, would not be a forum for outright opponents of the road.
"This is a group that we want to work constructively. To do that, they're going to have to accept that the smart road is going to be a reality," Brugh said. "This is not a debate over whether to build the project or not."
The department plans to hold public hearings on the issue next summer.
Transportation officials have said the department will begin buying land for the road next summer and hopes to begin construction by 1996.
The project received a boost last month when a General Motors-led consortium, which includes Virginia Tech and the state, won a $150million federal grant for smart-road and "smart-car" research. Earlier, Gov. George Allen had pledged to build the first two miles of the six-mile project if the consortium won the grant.
Anyone interested in serving on the committee should call Brugh or the Virginia Department of Transportation at 381-7200.
by CNB