Environmental Impact Statement: Roanoke, Franklin and Henry Counties, Virginia

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

Environmental Impact Statement: Roanoke, Franklin and Henry

Counties, Virginia

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is issuing this

notice to advise the public that a draft environmental impact statement

will be prepared for a proposed highway project in the counties of

Roanoke, Franklin and Henry in Virginia.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bruce Turner, Planning and Environment

Program Manager, Federal Highway Administration, The Dale Building,

Suite 205, 1504 Santa Rosa Road, Richmond, Virginia 23229, Telephone

804-281-5111.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FHWA, in cooperation with the Virginia

Department of Transportation (VDOT), will prepare an Environment Impact

Statement (EIS) to identify a location for a future Interstate (I-73)

in Roanoke, Franklin and Henry counties, Virginia. The project would

involve the location an construction of a new four-lane interstate

facility, interchanges, and redesign and construction of local access

roads and roadway systems between Roanoke, Virginia to a point south of

Martinsville, Virginia in the vicinity of the Virginia/North Carolina

border for a total distance of approximately 70 miles.

Improvements to the corridor are considered necessary to provide

for existing and future traffic demand, to reduce accidents and improve

safety in the existing U.S. Route 220 corridor, and to provide a

portion of new interstate in accordance with the Intermodal Surface

Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) passed by the United States

Congress in 1991. ISTEA identified I-73 as a highway corridor of

national significance and directed the corridor be included on the

National Highway System. Congress defined I-73 as a north-south

corridor from Charleston, South Carolina to Detroit, Michigan that

would pass through Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Portsmouth, Ohio, and

Cincinnati, Ohio. Also included in the this proposal is the redesign

and reconstruction of affected service roads and local access,

including the identification of potential interchange locations along

the corridor. Alternatives under consideration include: (1) taking no

action (no build); (2) transportation system management (improvement to

the existing roadway network) and/or intelligent transportation system

methods and techniques; (3) widening the existing U.S. 220 highway to a

four-lane, limited access highway; and (4) construction of a new four-

lane, limited access highway on new location.

Letters describing the proposed action and soliciting comments will

be sent to appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, private

organizations, and citizens who have previously expressed or are known

to have an interest in this proposal. A series of public meetings will

be held between now and December 1999. In addition, public hearings

will be held. Public notices will be given of the time and place of the

meetings and hearings. The draft EIS will be available for public and

agency review and comment prior to the public hearings.

To ensure that the full range of issues related to this proposed

action are addressed and all significant issues are identified,

comments and suggestions are invited from all interested parties.

Comments or questions concerning the proposed action and the draft EIS

should be directed to the FHWA at the address provided above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205,

Highway Planning

[[Page 66174]]

and Construction. The regulations implementing Executive Order 12372

regarding intergovernmental consultation on Federal programs and

activities apply to this proposed action.)

Issued On: December 8, 1997.

Edward S. Sundra,

Environmental/Air Quality Engineer, Richmond, Virginia.

[FR Doc. 97-32861 Filed 12-16-97; 8:45 am]

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