NEWS
New Median Barriers Designed to Improve 81 Safety
Rockingham County
Michael Hyland
Increasing traffic on Interstate 81 has some drivers concerned about the possibility of getting into a crash, but a new project could make your trip down I-81 safer.
It's a first-of-its-kind project in Virginia.
Sandy Myers, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Transportation, says high-tension cables along the median could lessen the impact of crashes on the interstate.
The cables will run for ten miles, starting about a mile south of Harrisonburg and ending about four miles north of the city.
"What really makes this an ideal spot is the fact that we do have a narrow median here. It's only about 40-feet wide. So, this type of barrier system works best," says Myers.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded the nearly $2.4 million contract to construct the median barriers to a Charlottesville company Thursday.
Gloria Evans drives up and down I-81 a few times a year.
"There are ten times more than there ever used to be. It just seems like trucks, trucks, trucks. The little cars are going, zigzagging in and out trying to get past them," says Evans.
The high-tension cables will try to prevent out-of-control cars from going across the median to the other side of the road.
"Unlike a concrete barrier, it doesn't sling traffic back into the travel lane. It absorbs some of that energy and absorbs the vehicle," says Myers.
In July, a truck crossed the interstate and crashed into a James Madison University residence hall.
Myers says the cables may not be strong enough to stop something that big moving at the right speed and angle, but with cars, the cables are effective.
Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year. The cables should be installed by July 31.
Myers says there will probably be single-lane closures, most likely at night.
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