VDOT will be closing southbound Interstate 81 in the Staunton area from 8 p.m. Saturday, night through 7 a.m. Sunday morning.
The closure, per a VDOT release, will allow contractors to set up for a traffic-pattern shift as part of an ongoing interstate widening project.
During the overnight closure:
- Southbound I-81 drivers will detour at Exit 225 and use the Route 262 (Woodrow Wilson Parkway) bypass around Staunton. They will rejoin the interstate at Exit 220 just south of the city.
- Southbound I-81 drivers who need to reach I-64 eastbound will use Exit 225, follow the Route 262 detour around Staunton, join I-81 northbound at Exit 220 and then take Exit 221 to go east on I-64.
- The on-ramp from Route 262 onto southbound I-81 at Exit 225 will be closed, but the on-ramp from Route 250 (Jefferson Highway) at Exit 222 will be open.
Digital message boards will alert motorists of the southbound closure and advise them to follow green-and-white “Emergency Route A” signs to navigate through the detour.
When I-81 southbound reopens Sunday morning, drivers will shift toward the left (toward the median) just before Exit 225, and then back to the right near mile marker 224, just before the Route 254 (New Hope Road) overpass bridge.
This traffic pattern will remain in place for several months.
All work is weather permitting, and schedules are subject to change.
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Chris Graham
