roanoke, virginia – “The heart of Roanoke” — That’s what Valerie Brown, executive director of the Greater Williamson Road Area Business Association, thinks of Williamson Road.
“I want this road to be very vibrant, like it was in the pre-freeway days,” Brown said.
Brown told 10 News they are actively working toward that goal.
On Monday, she delivered a “status” report to Congress highlighting several grant applications. One of her is the Vitality Grant through the Virginia Main Her Street Grant.
“One of the things they have is energization. From there we can do facade grant projects and that's what we're working on,” Brown said.
She said this, along with applications for city prosperity grants, would provide a boost to businesses. Grants through local, state, and federal transportation departments to address road conditions.
“This will not only help the business owners in the location, but will help make some businesses more visually appealing in the future,” she said.
In addition to the grant, Brown told council he wants to work one-on-one with businesses to get a better idea of how the association can help.
“They think they don't matter, because there's so many great things downtown, and there's so many 581s and side streets, and people feel like they have to go all the way to Williamson Road. ,” she said.
Next Monday, grant consultants from the Prosperous Cities Grant will be at Williamson Road to assess the road and meet with business owners.
“They're going to see a lack of sidewalks and curbs and in some cases even a lack of driveways,” Brown said.
Ms Brown said she hoped this would make business owners and local residents alike excited about the future of Williamson Road.
“It increases their economic income, but anything we can do helps the city,” she said.
Monday's walk with the committee is just the beginning of the process. We will then meet with neighborhood groups, libraries and other affected groups.
They hope to submit a grant proposal within 18 months.
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