Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Thursday, October 12, 2006
By SHAWN HOPKINS - Bulletin Staff Writer
A state official confirmed Wednesday that an agreement has been signed that brings the Interstate 73 project closer to reality.
Chuck Lionberger, a spokesman in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Salem District office, said all necessary parties have signed an agreement that will allow a final environmental impact study for the project to go forward on a 70-mile section of the proposed road through Virginia, including Henry County. This will clear the way for the Federal Highway Administration to issue a record of decision approving the construction of the massive project connecting Detroit, Mich., to an area near Charleston, S.C.
Local advocates for the project called the agreement a major step in bringing to fruition a highway project they feel the area needs for economic growth.
“To me, it’s huge,” said Martinsville businessman George Lester, chairman of JobLink, a group that has been promoting the project since 1993.
Interstate 73’s route would stretch through Henry County to the North Carolina line, mostly along the U.S. 220 corridor.
Economic developers have said the road should help the county and city attract new business and industry.
“It’s a project very near and dear to our community,” Lester said. With the New College Institute, a new Virginia Museum of Natural History facility and I-73 starting to become a reality, things are “going good” for Martinsville and Henry County, he said.
Lester said he expects the record of decision allowing the project to go forward to be entered by this winter.
Parties that were required to sign the agreement include the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Virginia Department of Historical Resources, the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration.
Virginians for Appropriate Roads, a Franklin County group opposed to I-73, and Roanoke City and Roanoke County also were invited to sign the agreement because of their expressed interest in it.
Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce President Kim Adkins said she was told the optional parties signed the agreement, although Virginians for Appropriate Roads did so in protest. A Virginians For Appropriate Roads spokesperson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Lionberger said the remaining obstacle for moving forward with the environmental impact study was the crossing of I-73 with the Blue Ridge Parkway near Roanoke.
“This was the last hurdle,” he said of the agreement worked out for that crossing.
Lester and John Lambert, a spokesman for JobLink, said the agreement marks a breakthrough in years of debate between groups with varying interests on the project.
“There’s been a major discussion of 73 and 220 where it connects with the Blue Ridge Parkway. And that’s been holding up this whole project,” Lambert said.
There has also been opposition to the project from those in Roanoke and Franklin County who are concerned about its impact on historic districts, they said.
Now that the project can move forward, Adkins said it is more important than ever that local citizens show support for it.
Area residents interested in expressing an opinion about the project can do so at a Commonwealth Transportation Board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Salem Civic Center. They also can write a letter to: Public Information Officer, Virginia Department for Rail and Public Transportation, 1313 E. Main St., Suite 300, Richmond, Va., 23218-0590, before Oct. 27.
Lester said the state will take requests at the meeting for what to put in its six-year plan for transportation projects, for which it requests federal money.
“They need a show of public support to put it in the six-year plan,” he said, adding that many projects are competing for the board’s attention in the Salem District. I-73?
Also, he said, if the local community wants the project, residents need to be there to counterbalance opposition by environmentalists and other groups who might attend the meeting.
“We would anticipate there are some people in Franklin County who may be opposed to it,” Lester said.
Iriswood District Supervisor Paula Burnette will represent the Henry County Board of Supervisors at the meeting and bring its list of priorities, which include I-73. She said the fact that the groups have signed the agreement is good news.
“That brings a little more leverage from some credible groups on board,” she said.
However, Burnette said the General Assembly’s lack of action on a transportation plan still is a stumbling block that needs to be overcome before I-73 can happen. She said she does not see how the federal government will commit to funding the project if it is not assured by the General Assembly that the state will be willing to make a financial contribution in the future.
“It would help if the General Assembly would get its engine in gear and do something,” she said. “If there’s no commitment from the state, there’s no reason for the federal government to commit any funds.”
She said if people want I-73 to happen, they also need to talk to their legislators and make it clear they need to reach an agreement on transportation.
“They’ve abandoned the child named transportation. They’ve locked it in the closet,” she said, where it will “shrivel and die.” |
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