I-73 project’s ‘scoring’ called into question

Interstate 73 – and the roadblocks to its construction – were discussed extensively at both Henry County Board of Supervisors meetings on Tuesday.

Ronald “Skip” Ressel Jr., president of the I-73 Committee of Martinsville and Henry County, spoke to the board at its 3 p.m. meeting after previously requesting time on the agenda.

Ressel said that in accordance with House Bill 2, which requires road projects to be assigned scores in order to be objectively evaluated for funding by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), the next best step toward getting I-73 constructed is to have the project scored.

Ressel said, the scoring can be influenced by the attitude of the person entering the data.

“If the lead person was not too interested in wanting to start the road, he may influence a lower score than another person exuberantly wanting to see it started,” Ressel said. “I bring this up because normally the county administrator (Tim Hall) is involved in the scoring application process. It appears to me as if Mr. Hall is not fully convinced the road could be started. In prior meetings, VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation) brought up isolated documents dated 2007 and 2011 that may have influenced Mr. Hall and the board. These documents predate the FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact) Report that gave the green light to start on I-73 utilizing the Henry County Alternative.”

Ressel implored the board to take steps to get the road scored.

“Now it is the time to ask for the scoring application to proceed,” Ressel said. “Or will it go down in history that I-73 was stopped by this board?”

After Ressel spoke, Hall responded to his comments, stating that the board heard from VDOT Resident Engineer Lisa Hughes at last month’s meeting regarding the scoring process.

“She told us … that we didn’t have enough information to score that project at this particular time,” Hall said. “Staff is fully aware, and the county administrator is fully aware, of this process. … When we have enough information to score that project, we will score that project.”

At the board’s 6 p.m. meeting, Ressel returned to speak at the public hearing. I-73 Committee of Martinsville and Henry County member Max Kendall also spoke.

Kendall said that VDOT is to blame for not providing the information that would allow the county to have the road scored, a sentiment Ressel echoed.

“I learned a lot since I spoke earlier today,” Ressel told the board. “I spoke to (Henry County Director of Planning, Zoning and Inspections) Lee Clark, and I learned there are some obstacles. Mr. Hall is correct that there’s a lot of information we don’t have. Guess what? The information we need comes from VDOT. VDOT has the formula that they need the information from to get the road scored. … We need to put pressure on VDOT. The citizens of Virginia are being shortchanged by VDOT because we’re not getting that information.”

The board also heard a presentation from John Stirrup, who updated the board on the Interstate 73 Coalition LLC. In May, the board entered into a contract with the coalition to advocate on the federal and state levels for the construction of I-73. The coalition is a collection of affected localities, including Roanoke County, Roanoke City, Franklin County, Henry County and Martinsville, under the direction of Rob Catron and John Stirrup with the law firm of Alcalde and Fay LLC.

Stirrup outlined the ways in which the coalition is gaining support for the highway, which includes educating lawmakers about the project’s benefits on the state and federal level, developing and implementing a communications plan to raise awareness of the project, and aligning the county’s transportation interests with that of localities in western and Southside Virginia that strongly support the construction of I-73.

Also at the supervisors 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. meetings, the supervisors:

-Approved a resolution regarding highway safety improvements in the Ridgeway District.

The resolution, which was added to the agenda by supervisors chairman H.G. Vaughn, requested that the board ask the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to institute safety improvements on Greensboro Road at the point where it intersects with Lee Ford Camp Road and Church Street.

According to the resolution, the intersection brings together three highly-traveled roads, serves as a gateway point to Magna Vista High School, provides access to Blackfeather Trail and one of the county’s busiest convenience centers, and also is near Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre, which will add a great deal of traffic to Greensboro Road when completed.

The resolution requested that VDOT consider improvements including but not limited to a traffic signal and associated infrastructure in order to make the intersection as safe as possible.

-Heard a monthly update from Mark Heath, President and CEO of the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

Among other items, Heath said that tourism expenditures in Martinsville and Henry County in 2014 totaled $66,142,253, a two percent increase over 2013.

Heath also provided a graph indicating that as of August, the unemployment rate in Henry County had dropped to 6.7 percent, while the unemployment rate in Martinsville had dropped to 9.4 percent.

He added that the EDC is developing a new campaign for Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre that will run in the Charlotte, N.C. Business Journal.

-Heard a monthly report on delinquent tax collection efforts from Henry County Treasurer Scott Grindstaff.

According to Grindstaff, as of Sept. 30, his department has collected 97.1 percent of 2014 personal property taxes and 94.03 percent of 2014 real estate taxes.

– Reviewed informational items and routine reports, including Henry County Administrator Tim Hall’s monthly report.

Horsepasture District Supervisor said that her annual Coat Drive for Kids is underway, and new and used coats can be donated to any of the three Martinizing Dry Cleaning locations in the city and county.

Board chairman H.G. Vaughn mentioned that race weekend is coming up, and asked everyone to help visitors to the area feel welcome and help them enjoy their visit. Vaughn also reminded area residents to vote on Nov. 3.

Hall said that county offices would be open Nov. 3. He also reminded the supervisors that the groundbreaking for the new Collinsville District Elementary School would be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 5.

-Received an update on general highway matters from VDOT Resident Engineer Lisa Hughes.

Hughes said that a VDOT Fall Transportation Meeting will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Valley View Holiday Inn in Roanoke.