Spanberger in town to break ground on Interstate 81 improvements

Six miles of a third lane, nine bridges – $219 million. Ben Cline is still bragging about securing $17 million for Interstate 81 improvements like he did something.

You wonder why we call him feckless.

“I-81 is a major north-south backbone not only for Virginia, but for the entire freight network of the East Coast,” said Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who was in town on Tuesday to break ground on the widening of more than six miles of I-81 in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County area.

“Modern, reliable infrastructure is essential to supporting local economies up and down the Shenandoah Valley, and I am proud to celebrate this investment alongside local leaders. I know this expansion will make a difference in the lives of the Virginians who rely on 1-81 every day,” Spanberger said.

The I-81 Corridor Improvement Program comes with a $4 billion price tag. That $17 million that Cline, our lame-duck Sixth District MAGA congressman, worked so hard to secure for us, comes to 0.425 percent of what we need there.

Thanks, Bennie.

The I-81 CIP includes 65 capital projects such as additional travel lanes, interchange improvements and truck-climbing lanes.

Cline’s $17 million maybe pays for a mile and a half of a third lane along the 325-mile I-81 corridor in Virginia.

Widening projects in Bristol and Salem will finish by this summer, the Staunton widening project is expected to complete next summer, while new ones near Roanoke and Harrisonburg are in their early stages.

The Harrisonburg widening is scheduled for completion in 2032, but motorists will be using the new travel lanes by late 2031.

We’ll all be dead, and cars will be obsolete, before they’re done with what they’re doing.