Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508280141
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The bridge will be longer and taller than the Interstate 81 span that crosses the New River near Radford, and will be built across the hills and farm fields of Ellett Valley about two miles outside of Blacksburg.
How it will affect the appearance of the bucolic landscape has been a bone of contention for many opposed to the smart road in the first place. The bridge's cost would range from $10 million to $15 million.
Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern, a Roanoke architectural firm that the state Department of Transportation has contracted with to design the bridge, presented a half-dozen potential versions to the 15-member committee Thursday night.
In appearance, the drawings ranged from a steel deck truss design reminiscent of Radford's Memorial Bridge, to one with concrete arches between each support, to more generic designs that differ visually mainly by the number of supports used.
Committee members, made up of both Roanoke and New River Valley residents, are expected to discuss the possibilities at their Sept.11 meeting, the last scheduled meeting before the Oct. 18 hearing in Blacksburg.
The smart road is a proposed six-mile highway between southern Blacksburg and Interstate 81 near Shawsville. It is to be built in phases over as many as 15 years, and would serve as a prototype for new computer-assisted technology designed to improve traffic safety.
The state has already pledged $10 million to build the road up to the bridge; the road will be used solely as an experimental facility until the remainder can be constructed using funds from yet-to-be-determined sources. Funds to build the bridge itself have not yet been secured.
Steve Chapin, a Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern engineer who worked on the designs, stressed that the designs were preliminary in nature.
"We are in the very beginning," Chapin said. The firm will meet with transportation department representatives in the upcoming weeks to discuss the design's aesthetic qualities as well as costs.
Dan Brugh, the transportation department's Christiansburg resident engineer, said the department will most likely rule out the two highest-costing versions right off the bat. By the public hearing, the list of possibilities should be whittled down to two or three, and more information should be available.
Committee members requested information regarding ways that noise from trucks crossing the bridge might be lessened, and figures on the costs of maintaining each bridge over the years.
Chapin would not say if he had any preferences at this point on which bridge to design. "It's just a balancing out of costs and benefits."
The smart road was originally conceived by Roanoke business leaders to create a closer link to Virginia Tech. Its Tech backers also see it as a potential research and economic boon to the university and the New River Valley; critics consider it an environmental and fiscal boondoggle.
The smart road would also be part of a controversial route proposed for Interstate 73 through Southwest Virginia, from Giles and Montgomery counties through Roanoke and south to Martinsville.
A hearing on the "smart" road - including the bridge - will be held Oct.18 in the Blacksburg Holiday Inn. An information meeting will be held at the same place Oct. 5.
by CNB