The Virginia Department of Transportation announced its preferred route for Interstate 73 on Thursday, choosing an easterly route that doesn't follow the U.S. 220 alignment many people expected. Segments of corridors between Roanoke and Martinsville that have been studied for four years were combined into a route that heads east and south from downtown Roanoke. It passes east of Rocky Mount in Franklin County, and in Henry County it rejoins U.S. 220, which it follows to the North Carolina border. Other corridors that were studied are now erased from further consideration, said Fred Altizer, VDOT manager for the Salem district. The decision isn't final, and won't be for a year.
Construction is at least six years away.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board is expected to vote Thursday in Fredericksburg on whether to construct I-73. If it chooses to build, the final route will get a deeper environmental analysis while VDOT asks the Federal Highway Administration to approve I-73 for federal construction funds. Business leaders greeted the announcement with joy, and environmentalists renewed their opposition. Martinsville and Henry County need an interstate highway desperately to attract and keep industries, Lester said. Opponents seemed energized.