ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180031
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
Improvements to Jefferson Street between Tyler Avenue and Norwood Street will zoom ahead of higher priority road projects, fueled by a gift from Radford University.
The improvements are designed to give better definition to the Radford campus and improve traffic flow in the area.
Plans are to widen Jefferson, adding curbs, gutters, sidewalks and a bike lane. The western end, which now ends in a gravel-strewn lot, will be extended, graded and paved to connect with Tyler.
The university recently granted all rights of way necessary to complete the project. It represents a gift of approximately $250,000 and will save the Virginia Department of Transportation many months of administrative labor.
Radford University President Douglas Covington expressed his hope that the project will improve traffic circulation downtown as well as on campus. "The university was pleased to work with the city of Radford and VDOT in making the additional property available. It's a good example of what can be accomplished by working together."
Estimated to cost $2 million, the Jefferson Street project will be under way by summer and could be largely complete by the start of classes in the fall, according to Dan Brugh, VDOT's resident engineer in Christiansburg.
Speaking recently to business leaders, Brugh gave updates on three other Radford road projects.
* Widening Rock Road from Wadsworth Street to First Street (Virginia 232) continues on schedule. VDOT is acquiring the necessary rights of way at present from approximately 25 people.
The improved road will be widened and have two bike paths and a sidewalk on the south side from Inglewood Drive to Smith Avenue. However, VDOT will acquire four lanes of right of way, as it did when improvements were made from Wadsworth to Tyler Avenue. Doing so will expedite widening the road in the future, should it become necessary, according to Brugh. The $5.5 million project is slated for completion in 1999.
* Tyler Avenue - the major link to Interstate 81 - will be widened to four lanes between Grove Avenue and where it will connect with the improved Jefferson Street, along the western edge of the Radford University campus. This project will include improvements to median landscaping and will require no additional rights of way. The project is estimated to cost just under $1 million and should also be completed in 1999.
* A $1 million bridge replacement on U.S. 11, over Plum Creek, is also in the offing. It is the first bridge going out of Radford, toward Christiansburg.
"It's getting to the point where it's insufficient for the traffic that's using it," said Brugh. Because the cost of repairs would approach the cost of a replacement, a new one is in order, he said. The replacement bridge will not differ substantially in looks or construction from the present bridge and should be complete by the end of 2000.
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