ROANOKE,Va. –
People in the city of Roanoke will have improved 911 service next year.
City leaders broke ground today on a new emergency call center located in the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology off of Blue Hills Circle. Â
The new emergency communications center is expected to cost $15.7 million. It has been in the planning stage for more than a year. The facility will be the new home of both the 911 center and Virginia Utility Protection.Â
"These two operations are similar in the way they perform their duties and responsibilities and it brings them together under one roof, and the real key is it allows us to share facilities between the two," said Charles Anderson, project manager for the engineering division of Roanoke city.Â
 The new center is scheduled to open in the fall of next year.
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