Other routes would cause as few as 360 displacements. She believes, unequivocally, that a road needs to be built. U.S. 220 is not adequate, she said, and it has more than 40 school bus stops in Franklin County alone. If a new highway isn't built now, continued traffic growth on U.S. 220 will require it to be rebuilt nearly to the width of an interstate, she said. Candidates take I-73 en route to November Interstate 73 has overlaid itself on the road map of this fall's election campaign, with several Democrats lining up against its proposed route through Southeast Roanoke and Roanoke County.
Interstate opponents say historical sites and environmental issues are their best means of defense.
Henry County residents somehow got I-73 rerouted. The endangered fish, farm land and forests are concerns that may affect the federal approval of I-73. The new plan through Henry County will also cost just a little less to build. It won't be an interstate in West Virginia. In Virginia, the section from Bluefield to Roanoke is on the back burner.