ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609130068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SERIES: Roanoke's Rapids
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
In coming years, four more lanes - two in each direction - may be added between the interchange with U. S. 460 at Christiansburg and Exit 150.
Interstate 81 carries traffic through six states from eastern Tennessee to Watertown, N.Y. At 850 miles long, it's a major north-south connector for truckers, who constitute 25 percent of its overall traffic in Virginia, and recreational travelers, another 20 percent.
It is rolling; it is pretty - and it is crowded, and getting more so.
"We began several years ago to see the need for more capacity on 81," says Fred Altizer, administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation's Salem District.
"Over a decade ago we began to see problems with truck weighing facilities. That was the first signal that went up. As time went on, the capacity varied day by day. Particularly on Sundays, we began to notice tremendous increases in truck traffic, and on major holidays."
In recent years, accidents have increased and created bigger and bigger tie-ups. Trouble spots, once limited to the junction between I-81 and Interstate 77 in Wythe County, the section between Christiansburg and Roanoke and a few spots in the Shenandoah Valley, burgeoned. With problems mounting, the Commonwealth Transportation Board has financed studies that will examine the road as a whole, from Bristol to Winchester.
By the end of this year, 10 consultants will be looking at the road and generating ideas for a master improvement plan.
To many familiar with the highway, the answer is obvious.
"I don't think you're going to see fewer trucks out there," says Capt. Charles Compton Jr. of the Salem Division, Virginia State Police. "To me, the solution is to have some more pavement."
Work on VDOT's six-year plan through 2002 probably will begin in the Bristol area. In the Salem District, the new 3A interchange at the U.S. 460 bypass in Christiansburg probably will be first, with major widening of I-81 for a mile or so in each direction, Altizer says.
The timetable for other work is not set, but within 18 months, Altizer says, public hearings on possible projects in the Roanoke area may begin. One likely spot: between Exit 150 at Troutville in Botetourt and Interstate 581.
In coming years, he said, four more lanes - two in each direction - may be added between the interchange with U.S. 460 at Christiansburg and Exit 150.
Altizer says the cost will reach several hundred million dollars just in the Salem-Roanoke area. The political winds are favorable. Proponents, including the I-81 Corridor Council of chambers of commerce, tourism officials and other groups, as well as everyday travelers, have been vocal.
Work will be coordinated with the "smart" road in Montgomery County and the proposed Interstate 73, which would follow U.S. 460 from West Virginia to I-81 to I-581 and U.S. 220 south - although, again, the timetable depends on funding and will extend for several years.
Already, Altizer worries about the effect of the construction on traffic flow, and vice versa. He envisions work zones with miles of concrete barriers, much-reduced vehicle speeds and an increasing percentage of trucks in the mix.
He says that when the work gets going, it might become one of the largest construction jobs ever in Western Virginia. "I envision it as being really a part of our mission to keep Virginia moving," he says.
Farther down the road looms the possibility of an interstate from Norfolk through Lynchburg to Beckley, W.Va. Dubbed the Transamerica Corridor, although unlikely to go farther than Missouri or Kansas, the proposed highway generated a $400,000 federal study grant for VDOT. Tentatively, it would run along U.S. 460 through Lynchburg, slightly northwest of Roanoke and along U.S. 220 to I-64 at Covington.
Altizer attributes the region's increasing vehicle loads to our mobile society and the truck portion of it to our way of life - a fast-paced consumer culture where retailers have cut inventories to reduce costs. Their just-in-time approach means more trips by more trucks to meet consumers' needs.
The development of I-81 is a quality of life issue, he says.
There are others.
"I don't have a problem with the road," says Tom Chester, technology teacher at Andrew Lewis Middle School in Salem. He understands its purpose and sees the need for improvements.
He does worry about its effect on the house he and his wife, Martha, designed, built and have shared with their four children for the past year. It's in Cherokee Hills in the Glenvar section of Roanoke County, a subdivision adjacent to I-81.
If the interstate goes to eight lanes, he wonders, should he add a screened porch, or will the resulting traffic noise make it unwise?
"It's loud now," Chester says.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Eric Brady. Fred Altizer, VDOT administrator for Salemby CNBDistrict, predicts miles of concrete barriers, trucks and low speed
limits once work begins on the "smart" road and the proposed
Interstate 73. color. Graphic: Chart by staff: Widening Interstate
81. color. KEYWORDS: MGR