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1997 SESSION

979837757
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 379
Offered January 23, 1997
Expressing the sense of the General Assembly regarding the Coalfields Expressway.
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Patrons-- Wampler and Reasor
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Consent to introduce
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Referred to the Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) provides for the construction of the Coalfields Expressway from Beckley, West Virginia, to the Virginia state line at Grundy; and

WHEREAS, the Coalfields Expressway has been included in the Virginia six-year highway construction plan, with the Expressway meeting the Virginia state line along the Route 83 corridor east of Grundy and continuing through Buchanan and Dickenson Counties to Pound, Virginia; and

WHEREAS, construction of the Coalfields Expressway will significantly contribute to the improvement of transportation into, from, within, and through Southwest Virginia, assist in regional economic development, and generally enhance highway safety; and

WHEREAS, federal legislation has designated the Coalfields Expressway as a component of the National Highway System, making the project eligible for federal funds; and

WHEREAS, the Coalfields Expressway's inclusion in the National Highway System will make it an integral part of the nation's most important long-distance, high-speed highway system, providing efficient, safe, and convenient movement of goods and people throughout the United States; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Commonwealth Transportation Board and the Virginia Department of Transportation be hereby requested promptly to complete the determination of the Coalfields Expressway corridor, to expedite engineering studies in order to aid economic development and tourism along the corridor, and to proceed with construction of the Coalfields Expressway, beginning with the construction of bypasses around the towns of Clintwood and Pound, then connecting these two bypasses, and making construction of these bypasses and the connection between them a high priority in the planning and construction of projects within the Coalfields Expressway corridor; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner, and the members of the Commonwealth Transportation Board that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly in this matter.