Vision:
Infrastructure
The Overview
Vision | Making
a Difference in the Future
The Vision
Economy | Education
| Health & Safety | Quality of Life & Environment | Infrastructure
Governance | Leadership
Infrastructure Vision
The New Century Region's infrastructure systems
link the region and the world.
Infrastructure Strategies
Overall Strategies
Create a New Century
Communications Innovation Zone to remove regulatory, policy or organizational barriers
which inhibit telecommunications use. This will require special enabling legislation but
could be the catalyst in making the region a prototype for the world in the fields of
communications technology and information application.
Expand the concept of
the Blacksburg Electronic Village throughout the New Century Region, connecting each
citizen, business and school in the region.
Establish toll-free
telephone communication within the New Century Region.
Create a
Regional Transportation District to help prioritize and implement needed regional
improvements.
Develop
the New River Valley Airport into a major heavy tonnage global air cargo facility,
intermodal facility and transportation hub.
Promote
the Roanoke Regional Airport as a passenger center with non-stop jet service to and from
strategic cities to support job growth and economic development in our region.
Establish
major Regional Commerce Parks in the New Century Region by landbanking a total of 10,000
acres, with at least two of these parks having a minimum of 2,000 acres each. These parks
would be designated by purpose: transportation/distribution, information/technology, smart
road park, office park, etc., and located throughout the region. The parks and the
landbanked acreage would be owned by all New Century Region governments who would share in
expenses to create the parks and share in the resulting new tax base created. The commerce
parks would be dispersed throughout the region.
Construct
the Smart Road as soon as possible.
Improve major highway
corridors in the New Century Region by new construction, improvements to current highways,
better use of mass transit and high speed passenger service, noting the need to be
citizen-and environmentally-sensitive.
- U.S. 220 and Interstate 73 Ð Roanoke to North Carolina
- Interstate 81, between I64 and I-77
- Interstate 73, between Bluefield and I-81
- U.S. 220 and I-66, between Roanoke and Covington
- Interstate 66, from Roanoke to Norfolk
- A new four-lane highway from Blacksburg to the New River
Valley Airport and I-81
- Route 100, Dublin to Pearisburg
Work on securing high
speed passenger service between the New Century Region, Richmond and Washington, D.C.
Establish and operate
regional utility systems to plan, coordinate and implement future infrastructure needs in
a timely and less costly manner. Review the opportunity to use greenway easements and
drainage basins as possible corridors.
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Infrastructure
to Provide Competitive Advantage
Strategy 1: Locate several "Commerce Centers"
in the Region.
Strategy 2: Civic Center/Coliseum - 25,000 seat
capacity (see Quality of Life - Arts, Culture, Recreation and Natural and Historic
Resources).
Strategy 3: Convention and Trade Facility
Strategy 4: Designate and develop the New Century
Region as a Communications Innovation Zone.
Strategy 5: Provide affordable access for all
businesses, government entities, public libraries and households in the New Century Region
to at least ATM (155 megabits/sec) and future gigabit/sec network service.
Strategy 6: Assemble a comprehensive information
services infrastructure to support all New Century Council plans, immediately.
Strategy 7: Establish and operate regional utility
systems to plan, coordinate and implement future infrastructure needs in a timely and
least cost basis. Review the opportunity to use greenway easements and drainage basins as
possible corridors.
Strategy 8: Protection of the Region's raw water supply
sources.
Strategy 9: Connect water utilities within the Region
where feasible.
Strategy 10: Upgrade the New River Valley Airport to a
major global air cargo facility
Strategy 11: Intermodal facilities/foreign trade zone.
Strategy 12: Create The New Century Regional
Transportation District.
Strategy 13: Improve and update key highway corridors
in The New Century Region with particular sensitivity to safety, quality of life and
natural beauty. The following highway corridors should be upgraded in the following
priority order:
- US 220 between I-581 in Roanoke to I-40 in Greensboro, NC
(this segment follows the recommendations for the proposed I-73)
- I-81 between I-64 and I-77
- US 460 between Bluefield and I-81 (this segment follows the
recommendations for the proposed I-73)
- US 220/Alt 220 between Covington and US 460 in Roanoke
- US 460 from Alt 220 in Roanoke to Virginia Beach
- A new four-lane highway from Blacksburg to the New River
Valley Airport and I-81
- Route 100 from Dublin to Pearisburg
Strategy 14: Make the New Century Region a showcase for
intelligent vehicle highway systems technology. Build a smart road component.
Strategy 15: Make the New Century Region a world class
center for bicyclists, pedestrians, and associated industries. The following steps are
recommended by the committee to accomplish this strategy:
- Fully implement the New Century Region's bicycle/walkway
Greenway plan within the next five years.
- Implement comprehensive safety and education programs;
including mandatory bike helmet ordinances.
- Create a circumferential bicycle path/walkway around the
Region with "spokes" to major points of interest and market areas. The Milwaukee
Beltway is an excellent example of this concept.
Strategy 16: Expand mass transit availability within
the New Century Region beginning with connections between Roanoke and Blacksburg. Look to
expand to Radford area (RU) sometime later.
Strategy 17: Make the New Century Region an
international destination for scenic byways tourism.
Strategy 18: High speed passenger rail service between
the New Century Region and Washington, DC and Richmond
Strategy 19: Promote the Roanoke Regional Airport as a
passenger center with non-stop jet service to and from strategic cities to support job
growth and economic development in our Region.
Added Strategy: High-speed passenger connection between
Radford, Blacksburg-Christiansburg to Roanoke, i.e., monorail, maglev.
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