VDOT sent out a press release today telling us about an oversize load that will slowly make its way up I-77, I-81, I-66 and I-495 Thursday night into Friday, taking up “more than two lanes of traffic,” and just expected us not to wonder, what in the blue hell are they driving up from North Carolina to the DMV?
That, apparently, will have to remain a mystery.
The convoy will hit I-77 around 7 p.m. Thursday night, crawling over Fancy Gap, snaking its way through the hilly Roanoke-Salem area, winding up I-81 through Staunton and Harrisonburg, then crossing Northern Virginia to curl around the DC metro area through 5 a.m. Friday.
The 323-mile trip should take around five hours, 16 minutes, at interstate speeds, per Google.
Ten hours to do a five-hour trip is inching along at the speed of smell.
Among the things I find odd here: the DOTs in North Carolina and Maryland haven’t put out any notices about this oversize load.
Just our DOT.
Color me suspicious.
Virginia State Police will be around to provide escort assistance, per the VDOT release, and “tow partners will be available to assist as needed.”
I’m imagining that this thing is going to register on the Richter scale as it passes through.
The release tells us that “there will be multiple planned pull-off locations to allow traffic to pass.”
Even so, “(d)rivers are encouraged to avoid these routes overnight and check 511 ahead of necessary travel to avoid delays.”
Ya think?
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Chris Graham
