Interstate 81 improvements set to make the road safer, less congested

ROANOKE, Va. – This article is part of “Solutionaries,” our continuing commitment to solutions journalism, highlighting the creative people in communities working to make the world a better place, one solution at a time. Find out what you can do to help and subscribe to our Solutionaries channel on youtube.

Common complaints about Interstate 81 range from truck traffic to crashes and safety. But there’s a multi-billion dollar plan that will make it better for everyone.

Ivan Loya drives Interstate 81 for work and calls it “pretty intense,” saying sometimes he doesn’t feel safe.

“We definitely need, I don’t know, more lanes or something,” said Loya.

Taylor Blackwell drives Interstate 81 every day and says the road construction is the worst part of the interstate.

“Safety-wise on this Interstate is, I guess, ridiculous. When it comes to road construction, it puts a damper on traffic,” said Blackwell, who drives a tow truck for Collins Towing and Recovery.

But we need the current construction. Interstate 81 hasn’t had significant improvements since it was built in the 50s. Since then, we’ve seen increased traffic, vehicle sizes and more trucks hauling freight. In 2018, VDOT started the I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan to make it more reliable and safer.

We took your questions and complaints about Interstate 81 to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). 10 News previously asked what your issues with Interstate 81 were, and you said the trucks, speeding and enforcement and a need for more lanes.

Dave Covington works for the Virginia Department of Transportation and says the top complaint he hears is safety, “I think a lot of people are scared to drive on I-81. I know people personally that refuse to drive on I-81.”

Covington oversees the entire I-81 construction project; that’s $2.7 billion dollars.

“We are not making improvements to the entirety of the Interstate. The cost of that is very significant, probably on the order of magnitude of more than $20 billion. So we have gone to great lengths to try to maximize the efficiency of what we’re doing with the investment that we do have,” said Covington, who admits it’s really just a drop in the bucket.

“I think the smart thing is that we did look at data. We used data to develop the solutions. The reason that is smart is that we can leverage every dollar to look at the most problematic areas and address those areas, rather than just randomly going out and replacing bridges or widening specific sections. So, we looked at crash data; we look at congestion data so that we know that we’re making a good investment with taxpayer dollars,” said Covington.

Part of the solution is widening 99 miles of interstate from two lanes to three lanes, including all of 81 from Christiansburg to Troutville.

“For corridor widening projects, it really makes sense to have a third lane for additional capacity. People can spread out a little bit more. Drivers feel more comfortable because they’ve got a little more space, and they’re not jammed up to the car in front of them or beside them. We also will have full-width shoulders, so that if people have an emergency, they can exit the roadway in a safe way,” said Covington.

But they’ve found ways to cut costs by doing work in the median.

“It saves money because right-of-way is extremely expensive. It also reduces our environmental footprint. We want to keep our projects as compact as possible so that we’re really getting the best return on investment,” said Covington.

Two things make I-81 unique: the mountains and curves and the huge number of trucks.

Below is a breakdown of I-81 statistics from VDOT:

• I-81 carries the highest percentage of truck traffic of any interstate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, so they are accounting for that in the construction design.
• There are more than 2,000 crashes every year. One in four (26 percent) involve heavy trucks, the highest percentage for any interstate in Virginia.
• Some crashes are deadly. 141 people died on Interstate 81 over the last five years.

“We do tend to see crashes that maybe wouldn’t have happened elsewhere, and that’s what we’re trying to alleviate. Because it is difficult, it is heartbreaking when there are fatalities,” said Covington. “This investment is really driven to drive down the number of crashes that we’re seeing.”

Here’s a look at deaths along Interstate 81 for the five-year period of Jan. 1, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2022:

“Ultimately, what we’re looking at is a more reliable interstate, and that involves both safety and congestion. If we can solve those two problems, we make the interstate more reliable. That way, if somebody is leaving for work in the morning, they have a good confidence that they’re going to make it to work on time,” said Covington. “When we do have a crash, it can be really bad. You can have vehicles sitting in a stop condition for hours on end. That’s what we want to prevent.”

VDOT added 30 digital message board and more than 50 cameras to see crashes and respond quicker, along with smart signals on roads that run parallel to I-81 to let traffic through if everyone starts getting off I-81 because of a crash.

“We can have 10, 12, 15-mile backups if there are severe crashes and that’s what we’re trying to prevent. We’re enhancing the safety, reducing the congestion, improving our alternative routes,” said Covington. “We don’t want the traffic backing up on the interstate. That creates a safety problem in and of itself. Simply because stopped traffic on the interstates is never, never a good thing.”

With a third lane and a full-width shoulder that some of I-81 doesn’t have right now, a lot of times VDOT will be able to keep the interstate open while cleaning up the crash, saving you time on your commute.

The towing and recovery incentive program shows positive preliminary data on being able to clear truck crashes quicker too. Covington said they can see crashes faster because of the additional cameras and the time it takes to clear a crash has dropped.

“We’re incentivizing the towing industry to mobilize more quickly, to have the right training, to have the equipment that they need on-site when they visit that incident site. So they’re able to clear it more quickly,” said Covington. “Truck drivers are also counting on the interstate to be safe and reliable. It’s their livelihood; it’s their job, and they’re doing the best they can.”

Covington says the data shows the comprehensive I-81 improvement plan will work, “We have very similar type projects on Interstate systems such as I-64, especially between Richmond and Hampton Roads, and I-95 between Northern Virginia and Richmond and they’ve seen very positive results.”

VDOT also realizes there are limitations with a project like this. One of the problems is I-81 covers 325 miles across Virginia.

“We focused on the top 20% of problematic areas, specifically with regard to crashes and congestion and identified those areas for improvement,” said Covington.

Of the 64 capital improvement projects in the $2.7 billion plan, half are finished. Most were ramp projects. Around 2025, you’re going to see a lot of construction zones. Covington said they are trying to spread construction out so you’re not going through a 20-30 mile work zone, but there are situations where that’s not possible.

What you should expect now are the larger scale projects of widening projects and truck climbing lanes. VDOT hopes to have those finished by 2030 or 2032 with some delays because of COVID.

They’ll start the planning phase for the next round of projects and possibly some engineering work before 2030. There are still $2-3 billion worth of improvements that need to be made after this round. Covington said the highest priority project to move into the program next is southbound widening from exit 137 to 128.

VDOT also told us why you won’t see guardrails in some areas: “Median cable guardrail is most effective in locations where crossover movements could occur - those that are flat and narrow between opposing directions of travel. Much of the median on I-81 presents elevation differences between northbound and southbound lanes or has steep slopes. VDOT has installed cable barrier on I-81 in Augusta and Rockingham counties, as well as on I-581 near Roanoke where these conditions are not present.”

You can find updates on the I-81 project here.

This article is part of “Solutionaries,” our continuing commitment to solutions journalism, highlighting the creative people in communities working to make the world a better place, one solution at a time. Find out what you can do to help and subscribe to our Solutionaries channel on youtube.