Driving by the old (and soon to be new) train station in Christiansburg (at its Cambria location) reveals a lot of activity. Work is progressing, and we can look forward to having an option to driving to points east. It will be good not to have to navigate with the trucks on I-81 or drive along the more leisurely Old Route 11. A report was just sent out about progress on the new rail service and perhaps it is a bit disappointing that it not starting until almost 2028. At groundbreaking, mention was made of beginning service in early 2027, with even the possibility of very late 2026. But – as many of us have experienced with any major project – things seem to always take a bit longer than we would like them to take. The report mentioned that everything is going well, so perhaps we can look forward to taking the train locally for holiday travel next year. Having this service will be nice not only for those who use the train, but for some reduction in traffic on the highways. This project remains a bipartisan effort to help our region – something that helps everyone.
We also can look forward to another major local construction project that should help our community. At the June 2 meeting of Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors, construction was approved for four new residence halls, with completion and occupancy projected for the beginning of the 2028-29 academic year. Construction should start early this summer. The 1200 new beds will help with the student housing shortage on campus as older residence halls are taken out of service to allow refurbishing and add total student living space to the campus.
Adding these new residence halls now is not as ambitious as the 2022 plan to build a Student Life Village housing over 5000 students. That plan was withdrawn in 2025 amidst substantial controversy. Many welcomed the larger on campus residence capacity as beneficial to both the university and to the general community. Losing from this larger student development, of course, would have been local developers and others benefiting from more community rentals.
Virginia Tech is a premier learning institution and is continuing to grow even as many other colleges and universities struggle to maintain their student populations. Our local economy benefits tremendously as the university grows, even as we may struggle a bit with increased traffic and general congestion. Blacksburg housing is much less affordable than in neighboring communities, and continued pressure to accommodate more students would most likely result in housing becoming even more expensive. Additional campus housing could relieve some of the pressure on housing prices – good for many but not for those wanting to sell property! Many in Blacksburg also are concerned that mixing student housing with broader community housing is incompatible, as students living away from home for the first time generally have a different lifestyle than those with families or in the midst of their careers. It will be interesting going forward – perhaps reflecting future changes to the Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors – if more on-campus housing will become part of our local future.
