Free Republic

Republican gubernatorial candidate Frank Wagner visited Roanoke Friday to pitch his campaign message of improving transportation infrastructure in order to create more jobs across Virginia.At a Roanoke County Republican Committee luncheon, Wagner, a GOP state senator from Virginia Beach, discussed his proposal to raise the gas tax for projects like widening Interstate 81 and building Interstate 73 and the Coalfields Expressway.Yes, he’s a rare Republican calling for a tax increase. He understands the irony. Building up major pathways in and out of Southwest Virginia will improve the business climate, he said.In the economically depressed Southside region , adding broadband and...

Syracuse, N.Y. --There's not a lot tunnel building going on in the United States. Four highway tunnels have been completed over the last 10 years in the U.S. Four more tunnel projects are under construction or in design. And one long discussed project that would have tunneled underneath a national forest in California was dropped. Could be a tunnel in Syracuse's future for Interstate 81? After a tunnel was initially rejected, a tunnel or depressed highway is back on the table as an option to replace Interstate 81's 1.4 mile section of raised highway in Syracuse. The DOT at first...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan came to Hagerstown Thursday bearing gifts, announcing the start of a $105 million project to widen Interstate 81. In partnership with West Virginia, the first phase of construction of the long-sought project, which recently got under way, will expand the heavily traveled interstate to six lanes from U.S. 11 in West Virginia to Md. 63 near Williamsport. "These improvements to I-81 are critical infrastructure investments that will help citizens here in Washington County, across Western Maryland and all across our state go about their daily lives in a faster, more efficient and safer manner," Hogan said...

Dear Gov. Hogan, Rep. Delaney, Rep. Shuster … somebody: I'm Andy Bruns, and I run The Herald-Mail. I need to tell you something disturbing about myself. At least 10 times a week, I put a bullet in the revolver, spin the cylinder, put the gun to my head and pull the trigger. One of these days, the gun will go off. My friends and family will be devastated, and my children will be fatherless. No, I’m not suicidal. I, along with thousands of others in the region, simply commute to work on Interstate 81. The gun is only a metaphor,...

major contractors deny any role in vehicles’ production or presence (WND) – The mystery of the military-style U.N. vehicles spotted being hauled along Virginia’s highways deepened on Tuesday when two major contractors denied to WND that they had any role in the vehicles’ production or presence. WND had reported on Monday when a wave of blogs reported online that trucks painted with the United Nations logo were being moved by flatbed through Virginia. One interested reader pointed out that the trucks likely were made in America and simply needed to be hauled to some port for shipment to customers –...

Is the occupation of America imminent? While few could say what is coming, there have been some curious sightings that hold ominous tones, as military vehicles and equipment for foreign forces have been sighted on U.S. highways. A man named Jeff Stern witnessed these curious UN vehicles and posted pictures to his Facebook, writing: Can’t begin to tell you how many of these I passed today on 81 near Lexington VA, Interesting times ahead! For the past day or so, military convoys have been witnessed traveling both North and South, with lines of equipment ranging from Humvees, troop transport trucks,...

Full Title: What are military UN trucks doing in Virginia? Bemused motorists spot white 'combat vehicles' on the interstate Military U.N. vehicles have been spotted in Virginia, shocking motorists and sparking conspiracy theories. The white trucks, equipped with large off-road tires, were seen being transported on Interstate 81 on Friday. Jeff Stern posted photos of the vehicles on Facebook, writing: 'Can't begin to tell you how many of these I passed today on 81 near Lexington VA. Interesting times ahead!'

FALLING WATER, W.Va. — A tractor-trailer loaded with more than 100 head of cattle overturned on Interstate 81 Saturday morning, spilling its bovine cargo and blocking the southbound lanes for four hours, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. The crash was reported at about 2 a.m. just south of the Potomac River where the tractor-trailer, loaded with 102 head of cattle, had wrecked, according to the news release from Deputy B.M. Humphrey. Cattle were "running everywhere" and a number of deputies were called in to control the situation, along with county animal control officers and state highway department personnel,...

Rep. John Delaney was in Hagerstown Wednesday to pitch his proposal for long-term funding of transportation and other infrastructure projects by repatriating the overseas earnings of American corporations. "There hasn't been anything really transformative to put a lot of money into infrastructure," Delaney, D-Md., told a small group of businesspeople at Bulls & Bears restaurant. He pointed out that the federal gas tax — the primary source of revenue for the Highway Trust Fund — has not been increased since the early 1990s, in part, because it is politically unpopular. It also is a regressive tax that hits lower-income people...

I-81 remains closed in Botetourt after armed standoff Posted: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 1:43 pm The Roanoke Times A man who engaged in a standoff with Virginia state police on Interstate 81 is dead, according to a release. A trooper stopped the driver near mile marker 161 in Botetourt County while the vehicle was going southbound at 10:20 a.m. When the trooper approached the vehicle, the unnamed driver displayed a firearm. The trooper immediately took cover. No shots were reported fired in a Tuesday morning release. Police continued attempts to contact the driver. When he remained unresponsive they, approached the...

HARRISBURG – A tractor-trailer driver faces charges after police say he forced a driver into the median in a road rage incident on Friday. State Police at Harrisburg charged Stepan Brezden, 42, of Willowbrook, Illinois, with one count of reckless driving and one count of driving on roadways laned for traffic after a road rage incident on Interstate 81 south near Lemoyne. Police said Brezden was driving his tractor-trailer erratically while “engrossed in a bout of road rage” with another driver. During the incident, police said Brezden forced the driver, a 22-year-old Mechanicsburg woman, into the center median of the...

Maryland's top transportation officials visited Washington County Thursday to discuss area road projects, including the construction of a new bridge on busy Interstate 81 over the Potomac River. The tour is an annual ritual, in which state transportation officials meet with local officials and state lawmakers to discuss the Maryland Department of Transportation's six-year capital budget. Among state officials attending the discussion at the Hagerstown library was Wilson Parran, deputy secretary of the transportation department, and Melinda Peters, who heads the Maryland State Highway Administration. Peters said that construction of the $43 million I-81 bridge will begin in the fall...

SCOTLAND, Pa. (WHTM) - State police in Chambersburg are investigating an incident where someone took an authorized ride on a PennDOT pay loader. The heavy equipment was parked south of Shippensburg last week, but sometime over the weekend was taken for a four-mile drive on Interstate 81. Police said the pay loader was driven from Exit 24 for Fayette Street and ended up in a motel parking lot off the Scotland exit. Investigators believe the unauthorized ride occurred sometime between Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Chambersburg...

SYRACUSE -- A series of public lectures on the future of Interstate 81 will be held this summer and spring. The speaker series bring renowned planning professionals, municipal leaders and community development experts to share their experiences and expertise. The first guest speaker will be Virginia Greiman, a veteran of Boston's Big Dig project and a leader in the field of project management. "Our community can learn a great deal from simply listening to others who have struggled with and overcome similar challenges that we now face," said Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney. "I look forward to welcoming Professor Greiman...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - Interstate 81 is closed in both directions at the 22/322 overpass near Harrisburg, and many other roadways around the city are congested due to a massive fire involving a diesel tanker. Route 22/322 eastbound is also closed at the interchange. Westbound 22/322 was closed until about 10:30 a.m., when PennDOT reopened the highway over I-81 at the Exit 67 interchange. Access is now also available to northbound I-81 from westbound Route 22 at the interchange. State police Trooper Robert Hicks said the crash occurred at 6:10 a.m. when the tanker, fully loaded with diesel, overturned on...

A smelly and slippery spill involving human waste caused traffic to back up for miles along Interstate 81 in Cumberland County on Monday. It further snarled traffic in Carlisle and on other nearby road. The spill occurred before 9 a.m. and caused a motorcyclist to skid out of control and crash in the southbound lanes near the Hanover Street exit in Carlisle. A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation crew that was doing routine cleanup nearby was called to the scene and determined both southbound lanes needed to be closed, PennDOT spokesman Fritzi Schreffler said. It took several hours to clean up...

WOODSTOCK -- The last few days have been busy for Shenandoah County emergency personnel on Interstate 81. Or, as some people may feel, it's been like old times. Four notable crashes in a 10-mile stretch since Thursday afternoon -- there were two that day, one on Friday and a tractor-trailer overturned Tuesday morning -- may have been the most in such a short period of time since the Virginia Department of Transportation raised the posted speed limit throughout most of the jurisdiction to 70 mph last the fall. Official crash data, though, is not yet available for the past few...

A Virginia highway official is recommending the state raise the speed limit on most interstates to 70 mph by year’s end. That would include nearly all of Interstate 81 in Virginia, except for major urban areas including the stretch between Christiansburg and Roanoke, and parts of I-64, I-66, I-85 and I-95. Connie Sorrell, chief of system operations at the Virginia Department of Transportation, said this afternoon that she will brief the Commonwealth Transportation Board on her recommendation Wednesday. Sorrell said she recommends the higher limit for “areas that we felt could be operated safety at 70 miles per hour.” Sorrell...

Going 96 mph on a 65-mph highway is enough to land a speeder in serious legal trouble. That’s 31 mph over the speed limit, and it’s the threshold between a regular speeding violation and the more egregious offense of “excessive speeding,” which earns violators a meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that they’ll likely walk out of with a suspended license. On Wednesday night, state police stopped a motorcyclist they said was clocked at 147 mph. That’s 82 mph over the limit. “That is probably the highest speed I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been at PennDOT nine years now,”...

State highway officials have mapped several stretches of Interstate 81, including several in Southwest Virginia, where the speed limit could be raised from 65 to 70 mph as soon as July 1. The General Assembly voted earlier this year to authorize selective raising of the interstate speed limit, and Gov. Bob McDonnell concurred. The Virginia Department of Transportation has the final say. VDOT said it will evaluate 741 miles of Interstates 64, 66, 77, 81, 95, 295 and 395 during an opening round of required studies. A new map posted Monday to the agency's Web site shows areas under initial...