About the Program

Program Overview

The I-81 Corridor Improvement Program is enhancing safety and reliability, reducing congestion and unlocking economic growth along a critical portion of our nation’s infrastructure.

I-81 is a key north-south backbone of the East Coast’s freight network and has the highest per-capita truck volume in Virginia. More than one-third of all trucks and nearly half of the state’s value of goods are transported along the 325-mile corridor. I-81 in Virginia also connects 30 colleges and universities and parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive.

The I-81 corridor spans VDOT's Bristol, Salem and Staunton districts in western Virginia. Thirteen counties and 45 cities and towns are located along the corridor.

Program Improvements

There are 65 construction projects including additional travel lanes in areas where they are needed most. Other projects include truck-climbing lanes through challenging terrain, and merge-lane extensions at many interchanges.

Traffic-operations improvements include digital message signs, additional traffic cameras to detect incidents, rapid-towing incentives, curve warnings and parallel route enhancements. The I-81 CIP also supports multimodal improvements in partnership with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

For more details on specific program improvements, please visit the following pages:

Funding

Bills Authorizing I-81 Corridor Improvement Program and Fund

• Senate Bill 1716
• House Bill 2718

More information about funding resources is available in the July 2022 I-81 CIP Financial Update

In 2019 the General Assembly adopted legislation creating the Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Fund. Revenues supporting the fund and improvements were identified from the following sources:

Program Development