The National Park Service is also being consulted because all of the routes would cross the Blue Ridge Parkway. Wittkofski said that while no construction plans have been drawn, most of the routes would cross the parkway by going under it. Views from a parkway overpass could be obscured by trees and a bridge parapet so parkway travelers wouldn't see that they were crossing an interstate, Wittkofski said. The park service has worked with VDOT on other parkway crossings on Interstate 77 near Galax and Interstate 64 on Afton Mountain near Waynesboro, he 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.