I-81 PROBLEM
It’s time we learned to share our troubles with others.
It is obvious that Interstate 81 has become hazardous due to increased traffic and
substantial overloads at times. Something must be done to solve the problem, and up to this moment, we have been discussing expensive “make do”, “Band-Aid” changes which
will be obsolete before they are completed.
It is time to look at the entire situation in a broader view.
For some years I have been thinking of a plan which would take much of the heavy
truck traffic from I-81, just a s I-81 removed some north-south traffic from I-95 years ago. It
is a plan which would be far less costly than the proposed widening and adding
additional lanes to the existing I-81. It would also bring many new advantages to the
state in general.
Basically the plan calls for a totally new north-south interstate highway from the
general area of The Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina to the Danville area in
Virginia; then to Lynchburg, Charlottesville, avoiding the congested greater DC-Northern
Virginia area, and on to Frostburg, Maryland or some such location. Not only would such a
route attract north-south traffic but it would be a tremendous boost to the domestic
economy of the Danville, Lynchburg and Charlottesville areas.
Legislators from the districts involved should be beating the drums loudly for such a
major Interstate through their areas, and the sooner they start the better.
All the proposed “fixes” for I-81 are meeting with opposition and understandably so,
especially the obvious plight of the trucking firms being asked to pay tolls if they used the
“new” or “modified” highway. It is time to check into the comparative costs,
disadvantages and advantages of such a plan now while I-81 proposals are “on the
shelf”... there largely because of public outcry against the apparent foolishness of many of
the costly proposals for temporary modifications.
Yes, it is true, I will agree, that an Interstate east of the Blue Ridge will also become
overly traveled and congested, probably much sooner than we think. At that point we
all share our troubles anew with the residents and legislators of the Greenbriar Valley area
in West Virginia, who should also be thinking about a possible north-south artery from
Bristol to Bluefield, through the Valley itself, perhaps Harper’s Ferry or into Pennsylvania.
This not a problem which is simply going to fade away. It will grow worse. We must
act promptly to deal with it.
What do you think about a new Piedmont Interstate east of the Blue Ridge? Does
such a plan “makes sense” to you?
A.L.M. August 9, 2002 [c444wds]
