Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Virginia made no decisions while other states were getting their routes lined up, said K.A. Ammar Jr. of Bluefield, W.Va. He is one of the founders of the six-state I-73/74 Corridor Association, which held its fifth annual meeting Thursday in Wytheville.
The proposed interstate would run from Detroit to Charleston, S.C.
Ammar said Virginia waited ``until the 11th hour ... and then they want to walk in and put in a 69-mile detour.''
He was referring to congressional testimony Wednesday by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke; Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County; state Highway Commissioner Robert Martinez and others who want I-73 to run through Roanoke and along U.S. 220 into North Carolina.
The Corridor Association wants the routing to take Interstate 77 through Bland, Wythe and Carroll counties.
Ammar said traffic would go that way in any case and then pick up I-73, rather than following I-73 out of their way through Roanoke.
``My feeling is the money ought to be spent the way people are going to drive and the project was originally laid out,'' he said.
``We hope that economics and the cost to taxpayers will have something to say about this,'' said Carl E. Stark, president of the Great Lakes to Florida Highway Association, which is Virginia's contingent in the six-state association. ``That's the concern.''
Stark estimated that it would cost at least 10 times as much to build I-73 through Roanoke as over I-77.
Nelson R. Walker of Bluefield, W.Va., executive director of the Corridor Association, said the organization will make its arguments to the congressional subcommittee that Goodlatte and the others spoke to Wednesday.
``All of us know what happened last year. The House overwhelmingly passed its bill. The Senate overwhelmingly passed its bill. But they couldn't resolve their differences on the two bills,'' he said. This year, many of the committee chairmanships have changed hands.
But Walker said the Senate version of a new bill introduced by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., gives the state transportation secretary more routing flexibility than last year's bill, which left the decision entirely to Congress. ``We'll be hearing more about that,'' he said.
North Carolina Transportation Secretary Garland Garrett said his state has problems with where I-73 will enter and leave the state.
``We do have controversy with Virginia and South Carolina as to our contact points,'' he said. ``We hope that most of this project will be completed by the year 2001.''
Garrett said North Carolina is not waiting for federal funds for roads, especially since federal funds seem to be drying up. The state has increased its gasoline tax and sales tax on automobiles, created a highway trust fund and passed transportation bond issues. ``And I say to you, that's the only way you're going to get anything done.''
South Carolina representative B.K. Jones told Garrett, ``If I can't envy you your beaches, I do envy your money.''
Other states represented in the association besides the Virginias and Carolinas are Michigan and Ohio.
by CNB