ROANOKE, Va. – The Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded more than $361 million, the largest contract to date, to widen I-81.
Crews will add an additional Northbound and Southbound Lane between Exit 143 outside of Roanoke and Exit 150 in Botetourt County. They are also modifying ramps and installing traffic lights.
The design is underway with construction set to begin next fall. The project is set to be completed in the Summer of 2031.
The I-81 project is part of the ongoing corridor improvement project, which started and it includes the construction that is taking place in Salem right now.
Work started in 2018 to make the interstate more reliable and safer.
VDOT said two things make I-81 unique, the mountains and the huge number of trucks. They said I-81 carries the highest percentage of truck traffic of any interstate in the Commonwealth of Virginia. So, they’re accounting for that in the construction.
The Improve 81 website shows the current updates on the entire project. A lot of work is already done or in progress in the lower New River Valley.
Meanwhile, more construction is coming to the corridor between Christiansburg and Troutville as crews work to add a third lane.
Last summer, 10 News asked you what your biggest concerns are with I-81. Many of you said safety.
There were about 2,000 crashes every year. About 26 percent involve heavy trucks, and some crashes were deadly. At least 141 people have died on I-81 over the last five years.
Our Solutionaries team has covered the I-81 widening project extensively, explaining how it’s working to improve deadly crashes and make it safer for drivers and truckers to travel across Virginia together.
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