VDOT expanding holiday traveler services in Shenandoah Valley, Central Virginia

The Virginia Department of Transportation is providing motorists with extra services in the Shenandoah Valley and Charlottesville areas for the Thanksgiving holiday period. Travel times will be shown on portions of Interstate 81 and I-64.  Additionally, Safety Service Patrols will be expanded on Sunday, November 29.

From Friday, November 20 at 6 a.m. to Monday, November 30 at 9 a.m. electronic message boards will display a destination, miles to the destination from the sign and estimated travel time in minutes. Travel time data on the signs will refresh every five minutes.

Mileage and times in minutes will be displayed between the following locations:

• I-81 Northbound and Southbound – Lexington/Staunton; Staunton/Harrisonburg; Harrisonburg/I-66; I-66/Winchester
• I-64 Eastbound – Waynesboro/Charlottesville
• I-64 Westbound – Charlottesville/I-81 at Staunton

Real-time traffic data feeds received by the VDOT Northwest Regional Traffic Operations Center in Staunton will produce the travel times shown on the electronic signs.

In the event of an incident or work zone, VDOT may temporarily suspend travel time messages to display a higher priority message. Travel times can change rapidly due to a crash, work zone, or additional traffic entering the interstate between the start and end point for a specific distance.

Travelers can use 511Virginia for real-time road conditions. Travel time messages posted on each sign can also be viewed through www.511virginia.org or the 511Virginia free mobile app.

On Sunday, November 29 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., VDOT will expand safety service patrol services. Patrols will be active in the following areas:

• I-81 northbound and southbound from Frederick County through Rockbridge County (mile markers 323 to 175).
• I-66 eastbound and westbound from I-81 to exit 13 at Linden (mile markers 1-13).
• I-64 eastbound and westbound from I-81 to Zion Crossroads (mile markers 87 to 136)

The Safety Service Patrols’ primary focus is incident management and emergency response. Additional services include assisting disabled motorists by providing basic roadside assistance, clearing debris from the roadway and establishing short-term traffic control for emergency responders.

Traffic alerts and traveler information also are available at 511Virginia.org. On the go? Then visit VDOT’s Free Virginia 511 Tools to get your 511 app for android or iOS. Traffic alerts and traveler information can be obtained by dialing 511.

For other assistance call the VDOT Customer Service Center, available 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week. Citizens can dial 1-800-FOR- ROAD (1-800-367-7623) from anywhere in the state to report road hazards, ask transportation questions, or get information related to Virginia’s roads.

The Staunton District Twitter feed is at @VaDOTStaunton. VDOT can be followed on Facebook, Flickr,Twitter and YouTube. RSS feeds are also available for statewide information. The VDOT Web page is located at www.VirginiaDOT.org.

The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties.