THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 30, 1994 TAG: 9411300481
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ROSE HILL LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
A 3.2-mile section of U.S. 58 in Lee County that opened as a four-lane highway Tuesday is the first completed project under a $1 billion plan to improve the state-spanning road.
It will be at least 2005 before the entire road from the Cumberland Gap to Virginia Beach has four lanes, but Lee County has already reaped the benefits.
A sack manufacturer will build a 200-employee plant there partly in anticipation of the U.S. 58 improvements, said state Sen. William C. Wampler Jr., R-Bristol.
``It not only offers a modern and safe transportation system for southwest Virginia's residents, it also opens a tremendous opportunity for growth,'' Wampler said. ``Lee County is where you see the tangible results. Once it is complete, I predict you will see a tremendous amount of economic development.''
That's what legislators from Southside and southwest Virginia were looking for when they brokered the U.S. 58 Corridor Development Program through the 1989 General Assembly.
The legislation authorized the sale of $600 million in bonds.
That is more than $500 million shy of paying the estimated $1.146 billion cost of the planned U.S. 58 improvements, said James W. Atwell, the Virginia Department of Transportation's assistant commissioner for finance.
``Where is the difference coming from?'' Atwell said. ``There are other funding sources that are currently available or could be made available by the General Assembly.''
Those include an authorization for additional bonds, direct appropriations or the use of regular highway construction funds.
Wampler, a co-sponsor of the original legislation, said the Assembly won't have to make a decision on the rest of the U.S. 58 financing for several years.
He said several more difficult and more expensive projects won't be ready for construction until the beginning of the 21st century.
The first $200 million in bonds were sold in December 1989 and the next $98.7 million in June 1993, Atwell said. The remainder of the bonds will be sold in 1997 and 1998, he said.
Some of the bond revenue has gone to finance U.S. 58 improvements that were already in the works, most notably the four-laning of the treacherous stretch between Emporia and Courtland that had been called ``Suicide Strip,'' Atwell said.
So far, $163 million has been spent and 65 miles of new U.S. 58 have been built since 1989, Atwell said. Construction is under way on another 20 miles, and preliminary engineering and right-of-way acquisition is proceeding for 202 miles, he said.
But the 3.2 miles that opened Tuesday near Rose Hill is the first finished project totally financed from the U.S. 58 Corridor Development Program.
The $8.5 million project is one of six totaling $67 million and 22 miles under way in Lee County.
On the other side of the state, a four-lane U.S. 58 is already a reality from Virginia Beach to South Hill. Work has begun to widen the two-lane stretch from South Hill to Clarksville, a segment that will ultimately cost $195 million, said Robert O. Cassada, VDOT's programming and scheduling administrator.
The most expensive section will be a $90 million crossing of Buggs Island Lake at Clarksville, he said.
Two other expensive improvements will be along mountainous stretches, including $278 million to climb the Blue Ridge from Martinsville to Hillsville and $159 million to get past Mount Rogers, the state's highest peak, on the Galax-to-Marion segment. by CNB