Updated information about many issues associated with Interstate 81 in Virginia is available to interested people everywhere through a newly designed and easy-to-remember Web site,
www.I-81.org.

We are making it easy for citizens to get the facts, said Fred Altizer Jr. P.E., I-81 program manager for the Virginia Department of Transportation. This new Web site will answer many questions about where we are in planning the future of I-81.

Site users will find details about the environmental review (I-81 Corridor Improvement Study) that currently is being conducted by VDOT for the Federal Highway Administration. The status of VDOTs application to FHWA for tolling I-81 is posted there. In addition, fact sheets about several issues associated with I-81 can be downloaded and printed.

Its important for people to know that no decisions have been made about I-81 in Virginia, said Altizer. I-81.org is the single best source of accurate information.

The site also features an e-mail address, 81info@VDOT.Virginia.gov, and an on-line form that citizens can use to submit comments and questions to VDOT.

Later this year, the site will include the dates, locations and times for public hearings to be held along the corridor, possibly this fall. Currently, VDOT is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the first phase of an environmental review of the corridor. After the DEIS is approved by FHWA, VDOT will make it available to the public and also schedule public hearings. The availability of the DEIS and information about the hearings will be publicized widely through the Web site, paid newspaper advertising and many other means.

We are looking forward to sharing the DEIS with the public, said Altizer, When its ready, well let everyone know. Keep watching www.I-81.org for the best, most reliable information about I-81 in Virginia.

I-81 Milestones

March 2003  VDOT submitted an application to FHWA to place tolls on I-81 as a potential source of funding, should the Commonwealth Transportation Board and FHWA direct VDOT to make improvements to the interstate. FHWA gave VDOTs application "conditional provisional acceptance." (Work continues on the tolling application.)

January 2004  VDOT and FHWA launched the first phase, or Tier 1, of an environmental review of the I-81 corridor under the auspices of the National Environmental Policy Act. The study  which includes assessment of highway and rail  will objectively identify deficiencies or problems along the interstate. It also will include concepts or ideas for potential highway and rail improvements that could solve the identified problems. Another component of the study is an evaluation of tolling and its effects on traffic. This study will provide factual data that the Commonwealth Transportation Board and FHWA will use to make decisions about I-81. (Public hearings on the environmental study may be held later this year, possibly in the fall. Some preliminary data from the study is already posted on www.I-81.org.)

March 2004  Negotiations began between VDOT and STAR Solutions on a proposal submitted by STAR for improving I-81 in Virginia. Any information, maps and pictures presented in the STAR proposal are ideas only and may not reflect exactly what could be built along I-81. Selection of STAR Solutions does not mean that decision-makers have decided to build separate lanes for trucks along I-81. The I-81 Corridor Improvement Study will help determine what can be built. (Negotiations continue between VDOT and STAR; no agreement or contract has been signed.)


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Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.

Page last modified: May 10, 2005