ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250050
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY
The Virginia Department of Transportation is opening a special office in Blacksburg to coordinate land purchases for Alternative 3A.
The road project, which will connect the Christiansburg and Blacksburg U.S. 460 bypasses and then link them with Interstate 81 at Falling Branch, will displace 79 miscellaneous buildings, 49 mobile homes, 34 houses, 12 apartments and 26 businesses.
Each affected property owner will be interviewed and contacted by an appraiser and negotiator. Property owners will receive fair market value, relocation assistance and moving expenses. Purchase of land needed for the project already has begun for hardship cases.
Renters will be contacted about moving from the affected properties and will be reimbursed for expenses.
The office, at 2811 Ramble Road, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number for the office, located in a building VDOT purchased for the project, is (540) 552-1603.
One right-of-way assistant will be present during business hours but several agents will work out of the office when negotiating with property owners and residents.
"This is a massive undertaking which will take nearly two years to complete," Jack Orr, right-of-way manager for VDOT's Salem district, said in a news release. "We estimate that more than 350 people are directly affected by the new bypass."
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB