ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240024
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
Will the fourth draft be the charm?
That's what Dan Brugh, the Virginia Department of Transportation's resident engineer in Christiansburg, is hoping. Brugh and other VDOT officials have been gathering information to answer 92 questions posed by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors regarding the proposed "smart" highway since December.
On Tuesday, VDOT officials finished the latest in a series of drafts, which Brugh estimates at four, that have been sent to the Richmond headquarters for approval. This draft, however, could get the final OK by this week or early next week, though Brugh is careful not to make any guarantees.
"We're certainly much closer than we have been," said Brugh, who met with state Transportation Secretary Robert Martinez several weeks ago.
The 92 questions stem from VDOT's request, which came before the Board of Supervisors in November, to take more than 140 acres out of a conservation zone in the Ellett Valley to build the controversial road. The board voted against VDOT's request, but a week later rescinded that vote to obtain more information.
VDOT must answer these questions, which touch on everything from the road's environmental and economic impacts to its effect on other road projects, before it can reapply with the county.
Brugh said two areas have required the most work: the road's economic impact and what will happen to the U.S. 460 bypass connector, also known as Alternative 3A, if the smart highway is not built.
Alternative 3A, which Brugh said was designed in tandem with the smart road, would relieve traffic on U.S. 460 by connecting the Blacksburg and Christiansburg bypasses and then linking the Christiansburg bypass at Roanoke Street to Interstate 81.
The smart road is an approximately six-mile link that would connect Blacksburg to Interstate 81 and is being promoted as a test bed for transportation research. The road has been approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board, but VDOT must get the county's approval to take land in the Ellett Valley to adhere to its plans.
"I don't think there are any big problems, it's just trying to get everything clear and understandable," Brugh said. "I'm sure these answers will be looked at very closely."
Many eyes indeed will be on the 92 questions once they are complete. Debate about the road has heated up since the county's decision. Several debates and panel discussions have been held recently - two were scheduled this month alone - where staunch supporters and opponents of the smart road have squared off over the project.
Some of these discussions have centered on the conservation zone itself. During a recent panel discussion, Montgomery County Planning Director Joe Powers said letters were sent out this month to landowners within the zone in question, the 2,800-acre Wilson Creek/Den Creek district, to determine whether they wanted the designation to be renewed.
These districts can be renewed every eight years. They are designed to encourage the preservation agricultural and forestal land, and do so by qualifying landowners for a tax break and by providing another layer of local review for certain proposed public uses, such as a highway project. The county Board of Supervisors can choose not to renew a district; landowners also can withdraw from the zone. The future of the Wilson Creek/Den Creek district will be up for consideration this summer.
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