Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Editorial: Continuing the journey to build I-73
The time to weigh in on I-73's preferred route has passed. Concentrate now on winning funding.
From the RoundTable blog
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Good news for proponents of Interstate 73: State officials have included funds in a draft transportation budget to continue making the plans become reality.
The draft contains line items of $9.5 million for Martinsville and $2.8 million for Roanoke. True, it does, as Henry County Administrator Benny Summerlin said, "seem like an awful small amount of money" when stacked up against the estimated $4.3 billion needed to build the new interstate.
Still, it does allow transportation officials to continue advancing final design work, purchasing rights-of-way, and possibly in three years awarding the first construction contract.
Building new highways is not only an expensive proposition but a tedious process that takes decades.
The I-73 project hit a major milestone this spring when it gained the necessary environmental clearances from the federal government. That process took about 10 years, as planners considered a number of alternatives and their impact on the environment and traffic patterns, among many other concerns.
Throughout the review, government officials and the public were invited to comment on the alternatives and preferred route.
Now, though, some in Martinsville are debating whether there might be a better route than the one that was chosen. A meeting is scheduled today for Virginia Department of Transportation officials to brief Henry County supervisors on the project's status and about how much time and money would be needed to change the route at this late stage.
The reality is that selection of an interstate route will always involve controversy and second-guessing. That's the nature of any major project. But unless there has been some significant development that was not even considered during the extensive environmental review process, then it's better to just conclude this phase and move on.
If I-73 is ever to be built, it will need the commitment of officials along the route to the selected alignment. That is the best way to win the state and federal dollars needed to turn plans into concrete.
For now, the $12.3 million in the budget is indeed a small but good start.
