AASHTO Journal - USDOT Loans to Support I-81 Improvements in Virginia

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently provided Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board with two loans totaling $89.7 million to support capacity and safety upgrades along all 325 miles of I-81 that crosses the state; a key north-south highway that carries 43 percent of Virginia’s interstate truck traffic.

[Above photo by VDOT]

The agency said that those two Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act or TIFIA loans from the USDOT’s Build America Bureau – loans of $47.6 million and $42.1 million, respectively – will help improve I-81in Virginia by:

Adding dedicated truck climbing lanes in Washington County and Augusta County, allowing slow-moving heavy trucks to climb steep hills without blocking passenger cars;
Fixing dangerous merging bottlenecks by extending exit ramps in Wythe County and adding merge lanes around Wytheville to give drivers more room to speed up or slow down safely; and,
Replacing aging bridges over Peppers Ferry Road and the I-81 northbound bridge over I-77 to guarantee long-term corridor reliability.

The USDOT’s loan package also supports Virginia’s $4 billion I-81 Corridor Improvement Program, with completion of that entire program slated for late 2035.

“By upgrading the commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure, reducing dangerous bottlenecks, and separating freight and passenger traffic, Virginia families and freight will move more safely and efficiently across the entire Mid-Atlantic region,” noted Sean Duffy, USDOT secretary, in a statement.

“By securing a TIFIA loan at half the standard interest rate, Virginia is delivering these critical improvements faster and more affordably,” added Morteza Farajian, director of the Build America Bureau. “It proves that innovative financing can help rural communities deliver vital corridor improvements faster while freeing up resources for future infrastructure needs.”

“As a vital commercial corridor not only for Virginia but the entire east coast, additional travel lanes, new bridges, and interchange improvements are enhancing safety and reducing congestion on I-81,” said Nick Donohue, secretary of transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia. “The TIFIA loans will help Virginia stretch its transportation dollars and continue building the interstate corridor all travelers deserve.”