Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Virginia 122 is two lanes where it crosses Smith Mountain Lake via Hales Ford Bridge. Some people say two more lanes are needed.

Map

• See the roads in Franklin County around Smith Mountain Lake

MONETA -- Bill Meir has seen many changes to Smith Mountain Lake since he moved to the area 14 years ago.

He's seen farms change to multimillion-dollar residential communities, and the lake become a vital tourist attraction for Franklin County.

But one thing that he can't remember changing is the roads.

"They can't change any of them because of the [Hales Ford] bridge," he said. "You can put 10 or 12 extra lanes on [Virginia] 122, but you're still not going to be able to do anything unless you add two lanes to the bridge. That's one expensive change."

Officials from Appalachian Power Co., local and state governments agree that improving the roads surrounding Smith Mountain Lake is tied to the continued economic boom.

Those same officials, however, disagree about who should pay for those improvements.

Road improvements have become an issue in recent years because of new residential developments and the growth of tourism at the lake. More than 2.5 million visitors came to Smith Mountain Lake this past year.

"We have to start thinking of the future," said Vicki Gardner, executive director for the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce. "We need better access into Roanoke. We have to start thinking ahead."

Because of the increased traffic, the Virginia Department of Transportation has been studying the roads at the lake since last summer, said Michael Gray, district planner in Salem who is heading the study.

Gray said the road study has included all of the main roads including Virginia 122, bridges and secondary roads.

"One of the main issues has been the development and what the development has meant for those roads," Gray said. "These roads were not built to handle this kind of load."

Gray said the recommendations will be published next summer and will be used in VDOT's six-year improvement plan for the area.

Included in those recommendations could be widening the roads as well as the bridges, Gray said.

With improvements necessary and costs uncertain, officials have already turned to the question of financing the road projects.

Because of the ties of Appalachian and its corporate parent, American Electric Power, to the lake area, local officials are trying to work out an agreement that the electric utility would pay for some of the maintenance and improvement costs of the roads that the power company built, said Russell Johnson, who represents the Gills Creek District on the Franklin County Board of Supervisors.

Appalachian holds a federal license to operate a hydroelectric plant at Smith Mountain Lake. The utility is going through a review process to renew the license.

"We believe AEP has an obligation to help with some of those roads they built," Johnson said. "If anything needs to be built or maintained they should bear some of the responsibility."

The electric company's involvement in the road situation began when it built several roads and bridges -- including Hardy Road (Virginia 634), Brook Mill Road (Virginia 834) and the Hardy Ford and Hales Ford bridges -- at the lake during the 1970s in order to finish construction of the lake, said Bill Brush, chairman of the relicensing committee for the Smith Mountain Lake Association.

"They created [Virginia] 834 so that the trucks go around Franklin County to the lake," Brush said. "It's made Franklin County more divided from the other counties. Before the lake was built it was five bridges connecting all of the counties, and now it is only three."

Brush said that during the first licensing agreement between the government and Appalachian, the roads were not discussed, making it difficult to require the company to do anything about it in future licensing agreements.

"The problem is if you don't forecast what's going to happen in the first license agreement it makes it almost impossible to do anything afterwards," Brush said. "I don't think the process was right; they didn't guess it right. That's why everyone is trying to get it right so that we won't fall short 30 years down the road."

But the roads' inadequacies are not for the electric company to fix, said John Shepelwich, Appalachian spokesman.

"We have followed through with all of our obligations in regards to our license," Shepelwich said. "We have studies in transportation; that's why we have meetings which are open to the public. We are not doing side negotiations with anyone. The ultimate decision-maker is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission."

Johnson said he will push for the company to do more in helping improve the roads.

"They don't think they have anything to do with it, but they created the roads and they do have something to do with them," Johnson said. "The counties had nothing to do with this."

Johnson said he would try to garner the support of VDOT in getting Appalachian to help with improvements to the roads.

Gray said he had heard the county wanted the company to do more, but had not heard anything directly.

"We did invite AEP to attend one of our presentations on our studies, but they declined," Gray said. "I think if we are on the same page as far as the issues and the improvements it would be a great thing."

Residents, however, point to the state government to improve the roads.

Dwayne Lamb, who has lived on the lake since 1993, said because the state receives taxes from residents it should be in charge of improvements.

"AEP doesn't get any sales tax off of the money that comes from tourists who come to visit," said Lamb, who owns a bait and tackle store at the lake. "Why would we then make them responsible?"

Brush said while he thought Appalachian didn't do a great job in building the roads, it is up to the state to ultimately make improvements.

"It's difficult to see how AEP is responsible for improvements," Brush said.

"I believe the road is a state issue, and the state has done a horrible job in funding road improvements."

But as Lamb sifted through tackle in his shop Monday and looked out the window of his shop toward Hales Ford Bridge and the cars zooming by, he could only think one thing about an impending road crisis.

"We're getting close."

On the Net: smithmtn.com