| Mary Hardbarger

mary.hardbarger@roanoke.com, 381-1679

PULASKI -- Drivers on Peppers Ferry Road may spot a new highway marker as they approach the bridge over the New River.

The "Roads West" historical marker was issued by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and installed Monday.

The marker highlights the history of the area's early road and rail routes and the creation of the Peppers Ferry bridge and tunnel, which is now known as the Cowan tunnel.

In the 1770s, Samuel Pepper established a ferry crossing on the New River to open up transportation from East to West.

In the late 19th century, the Norfolk and Western Railroad constructed a route through the same area of the New River Valley, and in 1899, the Peppers Ferry bridge and tunnel were completed to avoid a bend in the New River.

Today, the marker reminds people of that history.

"These signs are to help people recognize the significance of these structures and their impact on the surrounding cities, states and regions," said historic resources spokesman Randy Jones.

Virginia's historical highway marker program was established in 1927, and today there are more than 2,200 historical markers in the state.

"It is a very innovative and visionary program," Jones said. "People love these highway markers."

The "Roads West" marker is sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and was erected as an agreement between the administration and the DHR, involving the Heartland Corridor Project. The project was introduced in 2007 by Norfolk Southern Corp. as a three-year engineering effort to raise entrances of tunnels along the Norfolk Southern rail line to increase intermodal freight capacity and accommodate double-stacked trains.

The Cowan tunnel -- along with 27 others in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky -- needed modification in order to shorten the route taken by freight trains traveling in the Heartland Corridor, which runs from Chicago to Hampton Roads.

Before construction could begin on the Cowan tunnel, the Federal Highway Administration was required to contact the DHR to find a way to offset the impact the project would have.

"In this case, there was no way to completely avoid the impact of this project," Jones said. "We could only offer advice and ask 'What's the best we can do?' "

FHWA agreed to design and erect the "Roads West" marker that, according to Ryan Kimberly, environmental protection specialist for FHWA, cost less than $2,000.

In early 2008, construction began on the 3,302-feet Cowan tunnel and it was completed last September.

Kimberly said the outcome of the project will greatly outweigh the cost of the project -- Virginia alone agreed to pay nearly $10 million for work on the Cowan tunnel and two others in Virginia.

"Our goal is to increase the capacity of the freight trains which, in turn, will decrease the amount of tractor trailers on the highway," he said. "We're actually indirectly improving traffic ... that's why we are sponsoring the markers."

The project is set to be completed by 2010.