Issue Position: I-81
Issue Position
I-81
Interstate 81 in Virginia sees traffic far greater than design capacity, and it is getting worse. Accidents are on the rise and congestion is almost a daily occurrence. It's time for the state to focus on safety and capacity improvements in the Shenandoah Valley. I am working with federal, state, and local officials to raise awareness on this issue, and identify cost-effective solutions.
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In the 2018 session, under the leadership of Senator Mark Obenshain and Delegate Steve Landes, supported by myself and other Conservative Republicans all along the I-81 corridor, the General Assembly passed legislation requiring a study of the project needs in the I-81 corridor, and funding options to implement them. During the 2019 session, Sen. Obenshain and Del. Landes carried legislation to establish the I-81 Commission, which will oversee the prioritization of the long-overdue improvements to Route 81. The Governor offered last-minute amendments to these bills, which were adopted in April. These established a regional gas tax in the I-81 Corridor (identical to the tax in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads), as well as state-wide truck registration, road tax (for trucks) and diesel tax increases. The share of the state-wide increases which is attributable to the share of state-wide interstate truck traffic on I-81 (about 43%) will be dedicated to the I-81 Corridor fund, to pay for projects in the I-81 Corridor plan.
Regional funding:
The Governor's amendments imposed a 2.1% regional fuels tax along 81 corridor, including the following jurisdictions, outlined in the map below:
Counties of: Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Bland, Botetourt, Carroll, Clarke, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Grayson, Highland, Montgomery, Page, Pulaski, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Smyth, Warren, Washington, Wythe
Cities of: Bristol, Buena Vista, Covington, Galax, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Radford, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, Waynesboro, Winchester
About the I-81 Corridor and it's Challenges
The I-81 Corridor has been over-capacity for decades, and carries over 42% of all the truck traffic on all the Interstates in the Commonwealth; over 11 million trucks per year. There are dozens of incidents each year where at least one direction of the Interstate is shut down for 4 hours or more. Virginia requested federal grant money last year, but due to a lack of dedicated funding coming from Virginia, the grant request was denied. Where is all the Federal money going? Too much of the federal gas tax is diverted to transit etc. and unfortunately, I'm not optimistic that they will fix that and fully fund our interstate highways anytime soon. That means the large multi-billion-dollar interstate construction projects around the Commonwealth are funded primarily by tolls and/or regional taxes. The 2018 Study identified over $4 billion in projects and identified two options for funding them. Regional gas and sales taxes, similar to those in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, OR tolls.
2018 Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Study
The Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Department of Rail and Public Transportation studied the entire length of the Interstate 81 corridor in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in accordance with Senate Bill 971 (now 2018 Acts of Assembly Chapter 743).
Feedback provided by members of communities, industries and other stakeholders was considered and the plan was presented to the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) for adoption prior to the opening of the 2019 General Assembly session.
You can submit public comments by email to VA81CorridorPlan@OIPI.Virginia.gov, by mail to 1401 E. Broad St., Richmond, Virginia 23219, or by phone at 804-786-2971. You can also submit public comments, view information about the study, and view meeting materials, by visiting http://www.VA81Corridor.org.
The first of a series of meetings to gather public input on safety and congestion concerns on I-81 was held in June. The second series of meetings held in August focused on potential improvements and revenue sources. The third and final series of meetings in October focused on recommended project packages and revenue sources.
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