ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved design plans for the "smart" road Thursday with little fanfare and none of the controversy typical of the project.
The vote set the exact location - its general path was approved in 1992 - and major design features of the smart road. Construction on the first 1.7 miles of the road, extending from Blacksburg to the Ellett Valley, is expected to begin by next summer. It will not include the major bridge over Wilson Creek, which will be built later.
A few board members acknowledged the long - and at times acrimonious - path to this final governmental hurdle by stressing their support for the $103million project before the vote. The board voted in front of a roomful of state bureaucrats during a regular monthly meeting.
"It is a very sound project for very sound purposes," said Lorinda Lionberger, board member for the Salem District. "I support this project, and, hopefully, each of you feel comfortable."
Two board members, while affirming the need for the road, said they were concerned about meeting state priorities with the funding available and said the board should continue to examine this issue.
Robert T. Lee, who represents Northern Virginia, said the smart road meets a transportation need. But he was not comfortable with the emphasis on the project's economic development potential.
"I don't think the economic purposes should override the transportation needs," Lee said.
Absent Thursday were opponents of the road, who opted to stay home this time after they could not get on the board's agenda for public comment. They have not given up, however.
Arguments will be heard today in U.S. District Court in Roanoke on a lawsuit filed by three environmental groups against federal highway planners. The state was dismissed from the case.
The groups want the court to block further planning of the highway until more complete environmental reviews of affected areas are conducted. Rick Roth, president of the New River Valley Environmental Coalition, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said he hopes the lawsuit will delay the road project.
"We're not giving up, but [the Transportation Board] was one more place that we had hoped would stop the road and didn't," Roth said.
The smart road, an approximately 6-mile highway that will link northern Blacksburg with Interstate 81, is touted as an economic boon and transportation necessity by its supporters, and an unnecessary, expensive and environmentally damaging boondoggle by opponents.
The first 1.7 miles of the road, which will cost about $27 million, will be used as a test bed by Virginia Tech for transportation research. Ray Pethtel, Virginia Tech's transportation fellow and a spokesman for the road, said research in areas such as all-weather driving and how drivers respond to information will begin as soon as the project's first phase is completed.
Not surprisingly, Thursday's approval was both lauded and criticized.
Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez called the project "an important piece of the transportation network in the New River Valley."
Christiansburg businessman Michael Abraham said: "History will likely show this as Montgomery County's most blatant example of the will of monied and powerful interests overcoming those of the people. This is a travesty."
Staff writer Lisa Applegate contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Map by staff. color.by CNB