ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 29, 1996 TAG: 9604290129
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
State highway officials have reached the halfway point in choosing a consulting firm that will map out the pathway and design for improvements to U.S. 221 along Back Creek.
Proposals were due April 19, and 28 firms responded to advertisements on the project. Ron Cary, an official in the Salem district of the Virginia Department of Transportation, said a firm should be selected in early summer.
It will begin by taking the first comprehensive ground survey of the area since 1974. The end product will be a recommendation on the exact route required to straighten a sharp S-curve on 221, along with an analysis of the project's feasibility.
A final approval must be made by the Commonwealth Transportation Board after public hearings in the summer of 1997. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2001 at the earliest.
Construction engineer Pete Sensabaugh said the consulting firm will look at several factors in determining whether the project is feasible:
* Environmental impact, including the effect on Back Creek as well as historic points of interest such as the century-old Harris house and other archaeolgical sites.
* Social and cultural impact, including the number of buildings that must be removed and potential development pressures created by rerouting the highway.
* Cost. Although Sensabaugh said no maximum figure has been set, the expense of the project will affect how and where the improvements are done.
* Ease of construction. Because earth slides have occurred near the site of the proposed improvements, the consultant will study whether similar problems could occur.
At public hearings last May, residents were given the chance to vote on which of several corridors they preferred for the new road. But VDOT officials say the route the consulting firm will study doesn't match up with the one that got the most votes. The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to study another path based on a recommendation by Jack Hodge, the state's chief transportation engineer.
Brent Riley, a member of the citizen group PAC 221, said some people will be surprised that the vote didn't carry more weight with the board, although he said most people knew the final decision would be made by VDOT officials.
PAC 221 lobbied for improvements to be made along the existing road north of the creek.
Sensabaugh said the public vote wasn't ignored, because it did cause VDOT to scrap the corridor originally preferred by the state transportation agency.
Even though the consulting firm is charged with focusing on the route drawn by Hodge, Sensabaugh said it will be given information about the corridor preferred by residents.
Sensabaugh and other VDOT officials believe the biggest vote-getter would affect more houses in the area than Hodge's plan would.
Sensabaugh said the most popular route also would make it difficult to keep traffic moving during construction.
The corridor called for the road to be built on an incline above the existing road. Sensabaugh said lots of earth would have to be removed above the site for the new road and filled in below it, possibly burying the existing road.
Hodge's plan also recommends that the new section of 221 be widened from two to four lanes. Sensabaugh said the consulting firm will look at that and other design issues, but he agreed that multiple lanes are likely.
Resident groups and county officials have expressed interest in designing the road much like the two-lane Blue Ridge Parkway. To some extent, Sensabaugh said, that should happen, noting Hodge's proposal to build a bridge over Back Creek that would preserve vegetation around the stream.
Sensabaugh and Cary agree that some sections of the new road may include curbing and gutters because that would allow VDOT to halve the eight to 10 feet of right of way generally allowed along highway shoulders.
"It may come down to if we put curb and gutter, we may not have to take a house," Cary said.
Steve Strauss, who was on a citizen advisory committee during the corridor selection process, has asked VDOT officials to resurrect that group to look at design issues. Sensabaugh said no decision has been made, but he agreed that such a group could be helpful.
The exact role of a second citizen committee, however, is still unclear.
"We don't expect advisory groups to make design decisions," Cary said.
Strauss envisions the group having much the same function as the first citizen advisory committee: "It would serve as a communication link between VDOT and Roanoke County in providing input as to the design decisions. We all recognize that VDOT has control as to the final design they want."
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: map - Possible routes of U. S. 221 realignmentby CNBSTAFF