SALEM, Va. – The Virginia Department of Transportation is hosting a design public hearing project on Nov. 6, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Glenvar Elementary School to discuss its plans to widen I-81 between exits 128 and 137.
The $926 million project will widen I-81 to three lanes in both directions between Exit 128 in Montgomery County and Exit 137 in Salem.
The plan also includes:
- Replacing seven pairs of bridges
- Installing about five miles of noise barriers
- Adding median barrier walls along various stretches
- Improving ramps at Exits 128 and 132, including the Ironto Rest Area
The improvements come in response to significant safety concerns, with VDOT reporting more than 800 crashes along this stretch between 2019 and 2023.
Approximately 56,000 vehicles pass through this section of the road daily, with 28 percent of this traffic consisting of trucks.
“These widening projects are really intended to improve safety, reduce congestion, and improve response times,” said VDOT Spokesperson Jason Bond. “Interstate 81 certainly anyone who drives it knows congestion when we have all this traffic through mountainous terrain, so we are definitely looking to make improvements.”
Local drivers have expressed mixed feelings about the upcoming construction while acknowledging the need for improvements.
Tyler Vasko, who has experienced an accident on the interstate firsthand, supports the project’s end goal but expressed concerns about the construction period.
“I think the end goal of making this corridor safer is definitely needed, definitely necessary for us just to travel safely, but it’s just the roadwork between now and who knows, it could be five, it could be 15 years. We’ve been dealing with this in this region for a long time. It’s not very safe,” said Vasko.
Bryce Allen, a frequent I-81 commuter, emphasized the need for better on-ramp design.
“If I were to change one thing, especially in the Roanoke County area and around those areas, it would be a better on-ramp, and a longer one that probably has some sort of indication that you have a personal vehicle moving into that lane,” Allen said. “A lot of people have died, a lot of people have been in accidents, a lot of people have been sideswiped.”
The construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 and is expected to be completed around 2035. This project is part of VDOT’s larger I-81 Corridor Improvement Program, which encompasses approximately 65 construction projects along the 325-mile corridor.