Interstate 73 (I-73) and the Martinsville Southern Connector

alternative routes considered for I-73 in 2006
Source: Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), I-73 Final Environmental Impact Statement (Figure 2.2-1)

Interstate 73 was planned to run from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. A 72-mile stretch through Virginia would have paralleled US 460 from Glen Lyn to I-81, and US 220 from Roanoke to the North Carolina border.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the route for the Roanoke-North Carolina segment in 2001. The Federal Highway Administration approved a specific route in 2007. Opponents to that 2007 proposal sued the Federal Highway Administration, arguing that the environmental review had been inadequate. In Virginians for Appropriate Roads v. Capka, a US District Court upheld the Federal agency's decision in 2009.

A revised route though Henry County was approved by state and Federal officials in 2012.¹

Though studies were completed to prepare for the project, no funding was appropriated at the state or Federal level to build I-73 in Virginia. In 2024, the Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to rescind its approval for the road, so I-73 is no longer authorized or eligible for funding. The recission increased the potential for funding improvements to US 220 and for construction of the Southern Connector between Martinsville and the North Carolina border.

In 2015 the cost of constructing I-73 was projected to be $4 billion, while in 2023 the estimated cost of the 7.4-mile long Southern Connector was $745 million. As an access-controlled highway, it was intended to improve truck traffic in particular. On the section of US 220 next to the North Carolina border, 21% of vehicles were trucks compared to an average of 6% statewide. Total traffic on US 220 south of Martinsville was projected to increase 10-30% by 2040.²

North Carolina managed to build a 12-mile segment of I-73 between Greensboro-Emery, creating what today is the shortest interstate highway in the United States. The contrast between North Carolina and Virginia roads were articulated by the president of the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce in 2023:³

If you're traveling up Route 220 in North Carolina, you drive along a broad, limited-access road - until you hit the Virginia border and the road becomes a nightmare... The road narrows, it's hilly, it's curvy, and driveways open directly onto it. It's even worse heading southbound.

the proposed Martinsville Southern Connector was intended to create an access-controlled highway between Route 58 and the North Carolina border
Source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Route220 Martinsville Southern Connector Final Environmental Impact Statement (Figure 2-11)

The Southern Connector was justified not just for convenience and safety, but also as a mechanism for economic development. Better road access to the Commonwealth Crossing Business Center and the Southern Virginia Mega Site was expected to make it easier to attract large manufacturing companies to build factories in a region that was economically depressed after offshoring of the textile and furniture industries.

One observer noted:⁴

Martinsville and Henry County are economically connected with North Carolina; they're just not physically connected very well, and that hurts the local economy.

As described by the Henry County Administrator:⁵

North Carolina has built Interstate 73 right up to our back door, but our community's economic access to it is strangled by the last few miles of U.S. 220 in Virginia. Completing the Southern Connector Route is a strategic investment to overcome the decades-long population and economic growth downturn. Building the highway here will boost our intermodal access, be an incentive for economic development to bring jobs here, and help reverse dismal population numbers.

To fully fund the Southern Connection would require the Commonwealth Transportation Board to allocate 100% of Virginia's highway construction funding for two years in order to build just one project.

Opponents organized a 17-group coalition and spoke out against the proposed road, highlighting the opinion that environmental and social impacts (including 60 stream crossings that would require approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) exceeded benefits. The population of Martinsville and Henry County was projected to drop nearly 20% in the next 20 years, so a new highway would not be needed to address traffic congestion.⁶

Highways in Virginia

Interstate 64 (I-64)

Interstate 66 (I-66)

Interstate 81 (I-81)

Interstate 95 (I-95)

Interstate 395 (I-395) and the Shirley Highway

impacts of proposed I-73
Source: Commonwealth Transportation Board, Workshop Agenda (July 16, 2024)

Links

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Route 220 Martinsville Southern Connector Study
• Future Interstate Corridors
• MalmeRoads.Net
• I-73/74 in NC
• Virginia Department of Transportation
• I-73 (archived 2011)
• I-73 Final Environmental Impact Statement (November 2006)
• Interstate 73
• Virginia General Assembly
• Proposed Interstate 73

References