The first series of I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan public meetings being held this week will be focused on identifying specific issues along the corridor that citizens and government officials feel need to addressed.
The Salem District meeting is Thursday, July 14 at the Holiday Day Inn Valley View, 3315 Ordway Drive, Roanoke.
Among the issues that are being considered at this meeting are crash frequency, crash severity, hours of delay and incidents that close interstate travel lanes for time periods longer than one hour.
Meeting attendees will be able to place color-coded stickers to highlight areas of concern on interactive project boards at the meetings.
A preview of these and other meeting documents are now available for viewing on the study website: www.VA81corridor.org.
The meetings will begin with a brief presentation at 4 p.m. followed by an open house format through 7 p.m., which will allow attendees to speak one-on-one with study team members, ask questions, provide written comments and use the interactive project boards available to identify specific areas of concern.
The study team set up to make recommendations to the Commonwealth Transportation Board about safety improvements and funding those improvements will hold two more series of meetings along the corridor with additional opportunities for formal public comments.
The second series of meetings will focus on targeted solutions and potential revenue sources and the final series will cover recommended packages of improvements.
Botetourt County officials will attend the meeting, and Board of Supervisors members have been advised of the opportunity to provide their input to the study team.
Buchanan Mayor and Buchanan Fire Department Chief Craig Bryant also plans to attend the meeting and at Monday night’s Town Council meeting encouraged others in Buchanan to attend and make comments as well.
Comments will be accepted at the meeting or by contacting Ben Mannell, study manager, at VA81CorridorPlan@OIPI.Virginia.gov; by mail to 1401 E. Broad St., Richmond, Va. 23219, and by phone at 804-786-2971.
The first comment period ends July 31.
