Current transportation problems and projected future conditions on Interstate 81 in Virginia are described in a preliminary section of the Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement now available on-line. To view this information, log onto www.I-81.org, click on Corridor Study, then click on DRAFT Purpose and Need. All data posted is preliminary and subject to change.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is in the process of preparing a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement on the I-81 corridor for the Federal Highway Administration. The draft Purpose and Need is a portion of the draft Tier 1 EIS.

We are releasing the draft Purpose and Need section now because it is important to us to continue to be open to the public about the progress were making in conducting the study, said Jeffrey C. Southard, VDOT chief of planning, policy and the environment.

The draft Tier 1 EIS is scheduled to be available to the public for review and comment at the end of March. Public hearings will be held later this spring throughout the I-81 corridor. Dates, locations and times of those hearings will be widely advertised.

The posting of the draft Purpose and Need follows VDOTs release in October 2004 of a draft data report describing existing and future conditions on I-81. That report also is available on-line at www.I-81.org.

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: Feb. 2, 2005