Norfolk Southern Corp. made its strongest pitch so far to be part of the freight solution in the Interstate 81 corridor during a public hearing Tuesday on widening the highway.

Sarah Corey, director of strategic planning for the railroad in Norfolk, said "the best solution for I-81 is a combination of road improvements and multistate improvements to the rail corridor" parallel to I-81.

Corey urged the Virginia Department of Transportation to invest in improving both rail lines and intermodal facilities, saying they could benefit both society and the environment.

The multistate approach is omitted in VDOT's environmental study, which was the subject of hearings that began Tuesday in Roanoke and Wytheville. Hearings in other cities along I-81 will be held later this week and next.

Other rail advocates also criticized the study's single-state focus. VDOT has said it is limited to studying Virginia's portion of I-81, a 325-mile corridor from Bristol to Winchester.

Tolls, which have been suggested to pay for widening I-81 from four lanes to six, eight and more in some places, also brought out opposition -- especially from trucking companies.

Fred Altizer, Interstate 81 program manager for VDOT, told the 40-plus people at the Wytheville session that most of them had heard that tolls on the interstate were a done deal.

"Well, that's not true," he said.

VDOT is looking at tolls as part of the process to get federal approval for improvements, he said, but no decision had been made and VDOT wanted citizens' reactions to the idea.

None of the nine people who spoke to the VDOT representatives in Wytheville liked tolls at all. Most wanted more consideration given to shifting cargoes from road to rail.

Altizer said VDOT studies indicate more rail capacity would do little to curb interstate truck traffic.

"I do think that rail has to become a part," said Charles Crockett of Wytheville.

The other big concern in Wytheville was how Interstates 81 and 77, which cross there, might be reconfigured.

A resolution by local governments and businesses asked that any new I-81 section have plenty of access and exits for existing businesses in eastern Wythe County and to the Progress Park industrial complex.

Altizer said VDOT was aware of those needs, but no decision has been made on relocating the highway.

In Roanoke, Dale Bennett of the Virginia Trucking Association hammered the environmental study's conclusion about how many trucks would use local roads to avoid tolls on I-81.

Bennett said a study three years ago by a consultant showed that 50 percent or more of trucks would avoid I-81 under the maximum tolls that were proposed.

But the consultant who prepared the environmental study foresees 25 percent of trucks switching to roads such as U.S. 11 and U.S. 29.

"We don't understand how two groups can use the same data and come up with such widely different conclusions," Bennett said. And although VDOT describes the diversions as not significant, Bennett said, residents along roads that gain truck traffic might have a different view.

Liniel Gregory, secretary of Fleetmaster Express trucking in Roanoke, said an eight-lane I-81 is not needed and the company opposes tolls on both cars and trucks.

Rail alone won't solve congestion on I-81, either, Gregory said.

The best-case scenario proposed by rail advocates suggests that trains could carry 4,200 trucks per day that otherwise would use I-81. Gregory said it would take 28 hours to load and haul that many trucks on longer rail flatcars, and it would leave 10,000 trucks per day still using I-81.

John Ballard, vice president of Woolpert Inc. and a member of the Star Solutions builders consortium that proposes an eight-lane I-81, said several studies have shown that rail would play a minor role in solving I-81 congestion.

Ballard referred to the environmental study's prediction that unless the highway is widened, traffic will look like Northern Virginia and Norfolk at rush hour.

"These traffic projections are for real," Ballard said. Further, he said, at least two public opinion polls suggest that 75 percent of people support widening I-81.

Kristin Peckman of Roanoke said the traffic predictions should be questioned because they didn't include the rising cost of gasoline.

Fuel costs will cause people to consolidate their trips and find cheaper ways to move freight, Peckman said. "VDOT has ignored the elephant in the room."