Interstate 64 was routed through Charlottesville, not Lynchburg The interstate highway system is one of Eisenhower’s great legacies, but many of the key routing decisions came under Kennedy. One of the big debates, which began in the 1950s, was whether Interstate 64 would take the “northern route” through Charlottesville and Waynesboro (as it presently does) or the “southern route” through Farmville, Lynchburg, Bedford and southern Botetourt County on its way to Clifton Forge. The State Highway Commission, as it was called then, hired a consultant who recommended the northern route because it was 50 miles shorter and thus less expensive. Clearly that consultant did not understand state politics. Gov. Almond (who was from Roanoke) backed the southern route, and that’s what the state highway commission preferred, by a “surprise” 5-3 vote in 1959. The feds, though, were paying 90% of the cost and they got the final say. When the decision got to the newly installed Kennedy administration in 1961, Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges rejected Virginia’s advice and picked the northern route. Some darkly blamed Bill Battle, who was Kennedy’s campaign manager in Virginia — and was from Charlottesville. Kennedy and Battle went back a long way: He served with Kennedy in the same naval squadron during World War II and took part in rescuing Kennedy and his crewmates on PT-109 after their vessel was sunk by the Japanese and the men took refuge on a nearby island. Kennedy rewarded Battle by naming him ambassador to Australia; the name Battle may be familiar to some because a) he was Gov. Battle’s son and b) he later became the Democratic nominee for governor in 1969, losing to Linwood Holton in that famous election. Did Kennedy also reward Battle’s hometown with an interstate? Or was this just a perfunctory bureaucratic decision based on the fact that the Charlottesville route was cheaper? In an interview in 1999 with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Battle said he never spoke with Kennedy about the routing decision. “There was nothing behind the scenes,” he said. “I never talked to [Kennedy] about it. I just went up there with a delegation from here and made our case. … I guess we made a better case.” Whatever the circumstances of the decision, the fact remains: The Kennedy administration overruled Virginia’s recommendation and routed I-64 through Charlottesville instead of Lynchburg. That’s a decision that’s arguably slowed the growth of Lynchburg’s economy; it’s unusual to find a city that size without an interstate. It’s also arguably helped spur growth in Augusta County, where I-64 joins up with I-81. Over the years, I’ve met multiple people who work in Charlottesville but live in Staunton and Augusta County because it’s cheaper — and an easy commute over Afton Mountain (at least when there’s not any fog). Above is from an article in The Cardinal News by David Yancey published on Nov. 21, 2023 ** Edited by Hokester at 12/17/2024, 10:27:44 AM