Virginia Transportation Modeling Program

Developer:
Michael Baker Jr. Inc.

Completion year:
2005

Base year:
2003

Forecast year:
2030

2000 population:
83,000

Area:
155 square miles

Jurisdictions:
Montgomery
County (p*), towns
of Blacksburg
and Christiansburg

Air quality status:
In-attainment

Internal TAZs:
207

links/nodes:
3,236/1,426

Software:
CUBE Voyager
(April 2007)

Trip purposes:
Home-based work
Home-based other
Non-home based

Time period modeled:
Daily

Mode:
Passenger vehicle

*partial jurisdiction

Following the 2000 census, the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Montgomery County area was designated as a new metropolitan planning organization region.

The region is comprised of a portion of Montgomery County, including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg.

It is situated on a plateau between the Alleghany and Blue Ridge mountains in Southwest Virginia.

The urbanized area has grown substantially over the past 30 years. Montgomery County was the fastest growing county in Southwest Virginia in the 1980s and 1990s.

The focal point of the area is Virgina Tech in Blacksburg.

The county seat is Christiansburg.

Travel characteristics

The highway network in the model represents the principal street system, as defined by the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Blacksburg/Christiansburg/Montgomery Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Interstate 81 and U.S. Routes 460 and 11 provide primary highway access.

The thoroughfare system is further supplemented by Routes 8, 111, 114, and 412. The road serving the Virginia Tech campus is Route 314.

The region is also home to the "Smart Road" facility and test center.

Commuters have access to one of the nation's more successful transit systems. Blacksburg Transit provides service to sudents, faculty and residents.

A regional commuter airport is located just off the Virginia Tech campus.. There are no HOV or toll facilities in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg MPO area.

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