Sinkhole backs up traffic for 15 miles on I-81 near Lexington

Bumper-to-bumper traffic stood still Thursday afternoon on Rt. 11.

After a sinkhole was discovered Wednesday afternoon on the northbound side of I-81 north of Lexington in Rockbridge County, both lanes were shut down and traffic was routed onto Rt. 11 North.

Two lanes of traffic inching along that secondary road for miles made huge traffic jams and driver headaches along with overheated vehicles as VDOT worked to reopen the interstate.

Traveling with a friend to Lexington today on business, we were caught up in the traffic delay on Rt. 11 while as we drove back to Staunton, creeping along on a trip that took almost 45 minutes to drive 20 miles.

By 2:00 Thursday afternoon, one lane of I-81 North was reportedly reopened, and the other lane was expected to be opened sometime Thursday evening.

Sinkholes are not unusual on I-81 in the Shenandoah Valley and, amazingly, are generally found before they cause damage to vehicles. The Valley is full of limestone underground caves and sinkholes often occur when there has been excessive rain. As was the case with this one, they are excavated and filled with stone and dirt, then repaved and monitored for stability.

The detour is located between Exit 195 in Lexington and Exit 213 at Greenville in Augusta County.

Cross-posted at Bearing Drift

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell
5 May 2011

I-81: It needs fixing NOW

H/T to Jerry at From On High....

A group of conservationists filed a lawsuit to prevent the widening of I-81 due to loss of farmland, loss of scenery, and other reasons. I posted on this Tuesday.

Look. I live in the Valley and I appreciate farmland and scenery as much or more than the next person.

However, I-81 is congested and growing more so everyday. Human lives are more important to me than the loss of farmland along this north-south interstate. Rail may help but it is not the answer. My husband is a trucker ... time is money, money is time in the trucking industry ... and it is driven by consumers who want their goods now. Retail outlets want and need their orders as soon as possible and rail for trucks will cause bottlenecks at both ends of the line ... but that is another post for another day.

And this highway should not have tolls ... do you see tolls at the Mixing Bowl in NoVA?

Jerry at From On High tackles this subject, linking to a Roanoke Times op-ed piece, and concludes with:

Look, we need to widen I-81. Now. Lives are being lost. The longer we wait to do it, the longer we allow self-interest groups like these "conservationists" to block progress, the more stories we'll read about death and destruction on this vital thoroughfare.

So quit screwing around.

Amen.