To the editor: In an article published in the

To the editor:

In an article published in the March 17 Rappahannock News, I reported that at least 70 percent of the estimated $13.4 million required to widen this 4.2-mile stretch of highway would be federal funds. According to VDOT, “available federal funding is down” and this money (approximately $9.4 million) has not yet been allocated. If federal money is not forthcoming, VDOT will have to decide whether this project warrants 100 percent state financing.

I also stated in that article that to the best of my knowledge only about one-third of the right-of-way along Rt. 211 has been purchased. I have since learned from VDOT that “at most” only about 20 percent of the right-of-way between the Washington bypass and Rt. 1003 has been secured.

According to VDOT, appraisals for the additional needed right-ofway between the Washington bypass and 0.2 mile west of the Covington River are scheduled to begin this fall. Actual purchasing is to be completed by July 1989. The estimated budget for these purchases (2.3 miles), including preliminary appraisal work, is $445,000.

Appraisals of right-of-way for the second leg of the project, from 0.2 mile east of the Covington to 0.5 mile east of Rt. 522, are also scheduled to begin this fall, with purchasing completed by July 1990. The budget for this section of right-ofway is $1.1 million. I do not yet know why right-of-way purchases for the second (1.9 miles) shorter leg of highway are expected to be more than twice the cost of right-of-way purchases along the first and longer leg.

At the last public meeting on this project, in June 1974, the estimated cost of constructing the 4.2-mile segment between the Washington bypass and the north fork of the Thornton was $3.67 million. There has been no public meeting since then to discuss the minimum additional $9.7 million now needed to widen this stretch of highway.

Overriding the objections of the District Engineer, the Department