I-81 Corridor
Through the decades that the Alliance and legacy organizations have advocated for safety and congestion improvements on I-81, we’ve come back to the same solutions—targeted, affordable improvements to fix data-identified trouble spots.
In 2007, we opposed an expensive and destructive plan to mega-widen the entire corridor to eight or more lanes to the tune of over $14 billion dollars to be paid for by tolls. This plan, known as STAR Solutions, would have been extremely detrimental to neighboring agriculture, cultural resources, and small towns along the corridor. This old plan also made improvements prohibitively expensive, which meant most safety and congestion issues were not addressed for years. The handful of improvements that were completed were overbuilt to the mega-widening standards, instead of making efficient use of limited transportation dollars by prioritizing targeted and less expensive solutions.
In response to this plan, we developed “Reasonable Solutions for the Future of I-81,” endorsed by dozens of local governments and community groups that recognized that our issues on I-81 are unique:
→ I-81 doesn’t have consistent congestion like the Commonwealth’s more urban interstates, but rather experiences extreme disruption when accidents occur.
→ I-81 has curves and hills that cause speed disparities that can lead to accidents, especially with heavy truck traffic.
Valley legislators and transportation planners took a new approach in 2018, taking cues from Reasonable Solutions, when they initiated an I-81 Corridor Study. The Alliance supported this new direction, and encouraged elected leaders to advance “Safer Solutions Sooner,” a set of policy suggestions that are responsive to the issues on I-81 and sensitive to the valuable resources that border the interstate throughout the Valley—scenic and historic landscapes, working agricultural lands and small towns:
→ Find ways to clear accidents much more quickly, helping to prevent long delays and secondary accidents.
→ Apply new technology. Real time warning messages can be deployed on message signs alerting drivers to upcoming accidents and delays.
→ Prioritize spot improvements identified by safety and congestion data.
→ Study the effects of past speed limit increases and fluctuating speed limits along the corridor.
→ Invest in improvements to local road networks in congested areas like Harrisonburg and Winchester, where local traffic uses I-81 instead of local roads.
By advocating for Safer Solutions Sooner and prioritizing economical improvements like spot improvements and rapid incident response, the Alliance and its partners successfully steered I-81 planning toward efficiency and practicality. The current I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan:
→ used traffic data and community input to determine geographically where safety issues were frequent, and proposed right-sized discrete solutions.
→ These solutions started with things like better curve signage, on- and off-ramp extensions and the extra lanes you’re seeing constructed now through Staunton and soon in Harrisonburg.
The plan also invested in systems to notify and detour traffic and clear the road more efficiently when accidents occur. This program has achieved a 24% reduction in crash clearance time since its implementation.
Our years tracking solutions for I-81—from opposing the initial, over-built proposal to supporting the current data-driven strategy—underscores a crucial lesson: the best solutions for I-81 are those that are right-sized, targeted, and sensitive to local resources. This is the way we ensure the I-81 corridor remains safe and reliable for the communities and commerce it serves.
Resources
VDOT I-81 Corridor Improvement Program
2025 I-81 Corridor Study Update
2018 I-81 Corridor Study
- Final Corridor Improvement Plan
- Alliance Comments
Staff contact:
Kim Sandum ksandum@shenandoahalliance.org
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