ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606170089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
Virginia would not appeal a Montgomery County Board of Supervisors vote to block the "smart" road, but would pursue the project elsewhere in the state, Transportation Secretary Robert Martinez said Thursday.
"To think we'd go to court against the wishes of the Board of Supervisors would be absolutely extraordinary," he said.
Martinez met with the Smart Road Citizens Advisory Committee, a 13-member group formed by the Virginia Department of Transportation, in Christiansburg on Thursday to answer questions about the project and the committee's role.
A member asked what would happen if the Board of Supervisors voted against VDOT's request to take about 140 acres of land out of an agricultural and forestal district to build the smart road and whether the technology could be tested elsewhere.
Martinez would not be specific about where else a smart road might be built. "Eventually, would we pursue smart road technology elsewhere? Yes. Where, I can't say," Martinez said. But he later pointed to Northern Virginia, where numerous high-tech firms are active in Intelligent Transportation Systems applications - the type of research that would be tested on the smart road.
The Board of Supervisors will have two choices when it meets at 7 p.m. Monday at Christiansburg High School: Grant the request; or find that it "might" hurt county policy and extend the review period another 60 days and hold a public hearing. The state could appeal a "no" vote in Circuit Court.
The advisory committee, which voted 6-2 last month that the smart road "might" hurt county policy, has been marked by turmoil lately as its members struggle to define its role. Several members said after the meeting they were skeptical about some of Martinez's answers to questions.
In particular, Martinez said he was "pretty certain" Virginia Tech would be kicked out of the National Automated Highway System Consortium if the smart road is not constructed, adding the university was accepted because an environmental impact statement for the project was submitted.
Consortium officials have said funding specific highway projects is not its role.
Martinez also vehemently denied that the state is holding Alternative 3A - a connector of the U.S. 460 bypasses of Christiansburg and Blacksburg - "hostage" for the smart road. He called the notion nonsense. Design work is continuing on 3A, said VDOT resident engineer Dan Brugh, though the road would have to be redesigned if the smart road is not built.
"I insisted with the VDOT folks that we keep the project on track," Martinez said.
The transportation secretary stressed that he is involved with the smart road on a policy level, but is aware of the controversy surrounding the project. Martinez also said everyone is feeling frustrated, including himself.
"There's really nothing I can say to make everyone happy," he said.
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