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| I-73 backers say they're planning for future | |||||||
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By LOIS CALIRI
THE ROANOKE TIMES Some residents, business owners and land developers in the Roanoke Valley see Interstate 73 as the highway to jobs and prosperity. Some of their critics accuse the highway's advocates of simply wanting to enrich themselves. Two businessmen who own thousands of acres and commercial property near the proposed corridors dismiss the accusations. By most estimates it would take 20 years to complete the road and by then, the developers say, they'll be too old to reap its benefits. Opponents are jealous and have tunnel vision, they say. George Lester, a Henry County developer, spearheaded efforts in the early 1990s among business owners in Rocky Mount and Rockingham County, N.C., to have I-73 built through those areas. A phalanx of Roanoke Valley business and government leaders soon fell in behind the idea and supported Lester and Ron Willard, a Smith Mountain Lake developer. While both have extensive holdings of commercial property and land in Franklin and Henry counties, they say they're not pushing the project for their own benefit. Opponents of the I-73 project argue that state officials listen too much to business leaders and developers. "A look at who has been championing I-73 might expose the winners -- a select group of moneyed special interests," said David Hurt, a teacher and opponent of the highway. Among the people lobbying to get I-73 built through Roanoke are representatives of gravel quarries, trucking companies, bridge builders, asphalt layers, heavy-machinery dealers and land developers, Hurt wrote in a commentary in this newspaper last year. "It seems there are some pretty tight connections between those who would profit from a new interstate, those who are supposed to represent the interests of all citizens and those whose job it is to make impartial decisions about the best option for road construction," Hurt wrote. Lester and Willard, while they own thousands of acres in Henry and Franklin counties, said they have no vested interest in I-73. They say they're promoting economic development for the region. "It's sad to see that attitude," said Lester, whose family has been doing business in Martinsville since 1896. He said opponents are trying to find everything they can to stop progress. "Come forward with solutions. Let's build together," Lester said. Added Willard, "It's a foolish war between the environmentalists and the movers and shakers. All the proponents and opponents should sit in one room and leave with a compromise. "We've talked about it too long. "It's time to quit being jealous of movers and shakers. I-73 is not a cash cow for developers. It's a cash cow for people," Willard said. Lester doesn't see himself as a developer. Instead, he said he's a manager, investor and businessman who employs about 500 and wants Martinsville and Henry County to prosper. "I live here. This is home. I care about the people," he said. In its first 100 years, the former Lester Lumber Co. has grown into a multifaceted empire with the strength to survive two major fires and many economic highs and lows. Today, it's called the Lester Group, and it's one of two corporate groups operating under the Lester name. The other is Lester Development Corp. The Lester Group consists of eight companies, including Lester Forestlands, a company that owns about 18,000 acres of timberland in Franklin, Halifax, Henry and Pittsylvania counties, and Rockingham County in North Carolina. If the highway is built and companies move to the area, Lester said, they may or may not be interested in the 15 percent of his forest land that's flat enough to be developed. Lester said he's more concerned about continued decline in his community. For the past 15 years, he said, he has seen Martinsville and Henry County grapple with empty store buildings, high unemployment and unsafe conditions on U.S. 220, a road that was built in the 1950s and 1960s. Between Jan. 1, 1995, and Oct. 31, 1997, there were 1,089 accidents and 16 fatalities on U.S. 220 through Roanoke, Franklin and Henry counties, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. If I-73 is built, safety and regional prosperity follow, said Lester, 61. "I've got to try to get 73. If not, we'll be a ghost town," he said. Where it's built isn't overly important, Lester said, though he has a preference. He'd like to see the highway built east of Martinsville because it would cost less. There are no mountains and fewer people who would have to move. Willard agrees with Lester. He has been developing at Smith Mountain Lake since 1965. "I grew up here. My family is here. My roots are here. I'm proud of that," said Willard, 55. "Sure, I'm a player, a mover and shaker. But by the time 73 is built, there won't be a lot left to build a house. The prosperity of the lake will be a done deal. "I'm planning for the next generation," Willard said. Willard owns three country clubs and has developed 2,000 acres. A couple of hundred acres are for sale, and Willard plans to have them developed within five years. "I want my piece of future investment like everyone else," he said. "But the issue of making Ron Willard rich is not an issue." Willard says he understands the opponents' environmental arguments. To him, though, safety and economic development carry more weight. Potential growth at the lake includes more retirement homes, expanded water and sewer service and increased taxes for Franklin County. "We're sitting on a gold mine. Why should we roll over because someone doesn't want to pull up a tree?" Willard said. Federal funding is available for I-73 today, he said. "If I'm going to be a human being, I'm going to squeal as much as I have to. I want a piece of our money -- I-73 money is our money -- to help prosperity, the welfare [of residents] and economic development." Smith Mountain Lake could draw more people if a safe interstate were nearby, Willard says. Nearly 15,000 residents now live at the lake. He'd like I-73 built on the east side of U.S. 220. The land is mostly flat; if the highway went through Burnt Chimney, more people would move to the lake. I-73 also would free up U.S. 220 for neighbors who'd want to avoid interstate traffic. "It would be a community road for short-distance traffic." The area also could be developed into residential homes and schools, Willard said. I-73 also would put money into investors' pockets; homeowners could make a profit if they sell their homes in about 20 years because the value of real estate would increase. Also, an interstate could lure a low-cost airline to Roanoke, Willard said. He said he'd drive to Greensboro in a minute to get a cheaper flight. Enhanced competition may make Roanoke airport officials try to recruit airlines that offer lower fares, Willard said. The larger question, said Sarah McDaniel of Rocky Mount, is why build I-73 at all. McDaniel, a retired secretary, has driven U.S. 220 almost daily for 35 years. She listed some reasons for building I-73: School buses pick up and deliver children while stopped in the lanes of U.S. 220. Mail carriers deliver to boxes that are barely off the pavement. The number of trucks that zoom down one slope to get up speed for climbing the upcoming hills. The rapidly increasing number of houses and developments going up along U.S. 220 or just off it on narrow country roads. The number of private driveways and country roads with access to U.S. 220. "No one hates to see our area change any more than I do. I love it here and the benefits received by my children are too numerous to list," McDaniel wrote in a commentary in The Roanoke Times almost two years ago. "But not wanting it to change has not, nor will it ever, stop the changes that are coming so rapidly with increased population and speeded-up lifestyles that we all live." McDaniel said she'd like I-73 built west of Rocky Mount, toward Ferrum. "That's one housewife's opinion," she said. She doesn't live in any proposed corridor. "I'd feel differently if I'd be in danger of having my house taken away," she said. LOIS CALIRI can be reached at 981-3117 or loisc@roanoke.com |
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