For the first time in 15 years, the Greater Roanoke and Alleghany region will have its rural transportation plan amended. Alison Stinnette, a Regional Transportation Planner with the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, or RVARC for short, says it is time to update the district’s rural long-range transportation plan. She says the document – due once every 20 years – is designed to help localities plan their upcoming transportation projects, but to her its more than a legal requirement; it’s a glimpse into the region’s future, “It is really supposed to be a big snapshot of our region, and identify what the goals for the next twenty years are for the rural areas within our region.”
Stinnette says that future is not being shaped by the County and Commission planners alone, though. She says the RVARC has already looked at community feedback on ongoing transportation plans across the Greater Roanoke and Alleghany region, but now they want to hear directly from residents what they want to see in the new plan, “We really want the public to participate because we want their feedback in this process. You know, they’re the ones that are impacted [by] infrastructure, services, and everything that we may be recommending to implement in these communities.”
The RVARC’s public Rural Long Range Transportation Plan Survey will remain live through the end of April 2026. Paper copies of the survey are available at the RVARC Office at 313 Luck Ave SW, Roanoke, VA 24016. You can access the survey online using the link below:
https://engage.rvarc.org/2045-rlrtp
LISTEN TO THIS STORY HERE:
The post RVARC giving rural residents a chance to shape the region’s transportation future first appeared on News/Talk 960-AM & FM-107.3 WFIR.
