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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 15, 1995                   TAG: 9511150037
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

`SMART ROAD' LAND-USE HEARING TONIGHT IN CHRISTIANSBURG

Citizens can offer opinions on whether 140 acres of land in the Ellett Valley, which now is in a protected zone, should be used to construct the "smart" highway.

A public hearing will be held tonight at 7 at the Montgomery County Courthouse to discuss whether the land should be taken out of the county's Agricultural and Forestal District 7, a classification meant to preserve rural land. The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will vote on the matter Nov. 20.

The board must decide whether taking the land out of the district would have an "adverse effect" on state and county policy and whether it "is necessary to provide service to the public" in a cost-effective, practical way.

The county Planning Commission voted 6-1 that taking the land would have an adverse affect, while the Advisory Committee on Agricultural and Forestal Districts decided it would not be unfavorable.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the location of the smart road in 1992 but has not approved the Virginia Department of Transportation's design plans. The smart road is an approximately six-mile highway that would link Blacksburg to Roanoke and provide a test bed for transportation research.

If the Board of Supervisors votes that the taking of the land by VDOT conflicts with the board's preservation policy, the state could appeal the decision to Montgomery Circuit Court.

by CNB