ROANOKE, Va. – The I-81 Advisory Committee is meeting later on Friday in Lexington to hear updates about the status of the more than 60 projects going up and down the corridor.
One of the updates the advisory committee will hear updates about is the project that’s going on in Salem. VDOT said the widening project in the Salem area from 137 to 141 will be finished in more than a year. VDOT hopes to have those lanes fully open in early 2026, and some of the lanes from 140 to 141 will be back up next year.
Some of the other updates VDOT will discuss are the project where it’s widening lanes from exits 143 to 150.
The I-81 Advisory Committee provides advice and recommendations to the Commonwealth Transportation Board about the I-81 Corridor Improvement project, which costs about $3 billion.
10 News spoke with VDOT 81 Communications Director Ken Slack about whether they think they need more funding for the whole project.
“While everybody would like to see our projects move along a little more quickly, the funding mechanism is there and it’s a matter of working with the funds that we have available and as we finish projects having something ready to go once, we’re able to move those resources onto the next round of improvements,” said Slack.
During the meeting, VDOT will also talk about other potential projects that could happen down the line.
Slack said some of the projects include widening lanes in Lexington around where Interstates 81 and 64 meet, widening lanes in the Shenandoah Valley and possibly realigning some of the roads in Botetourt County around mile markers 167 and 168.
There are several lawmakers who are a part of the advisory committee, including Delegate Sam Rasoul.
He said he wants VDOT to make the improvements as quickly as possible and he hopes they can invest in I-81 to make it safer.
“Most importantly is safety ensuring that there are some areas that have three lanes to ensure that we not only can allow for traffic to be moving between Roanoke and Christiansburg or up I-81 that it is safe for people as we move forward, and so we are giving a lot of thought to how to best do that, especially with so many trucks on I-81,” said Rasoul.
Meanwhile, Senator David Suetterlein is also on the advisory committee.
He hopes during the meeting later Friday, they will get more information about where some of the projects stand. He also said the most important expansion is between Salem and Roanoke and said it hasn’t gone as quickly as they’d hoped.
“That was cued up earlier than some of the other projects. It’s not gone as quick as some of us would like, and we hope to get that going as quickly as possible because there’s such a high traffic point between Salem and Roanoke every day,” said Suetterlein.
Suetterlein said a third lane from Salem to Roanoke is important because of the high traffic in that area every day.
Suetterlein also said he will not be asking for more funding for the I-81 Improvement Project.
“I won’t be asking. The Roanoke taxpayers [and] the New River Valley taxpayers have been paying direct taxes for these projects for multiple years now. That’s one of the concerns that we’ll be addressing is to make sure that that money is being spent in such a way so these projects get done in a time effective way,” said Suetterlein.
He also said there will be discussion about other projects, like the train to Christiansburg, and they expect to get updates about that later.
The I-81 Advisory Committee is meeting at 1 p.m. on Dec. 13 at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, and there will be time for public comment.