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SALEM – Weather permitting, starting on Monday, March 30, work on the New River Bridge project at exit 105 on northbound Interstate 81 will continue.
The overall structure is safe for traffic to continue using but there is a concern with the portion of the bridge that is not open to traffic. The riding surface on that unopened portion is uneven and the contractor and their engineers have been working to develop a corrective action plan.
The initial work will begin behind the barrier wall. Then, beginning in May and through September, the barrier wall will be moved, and the existing lanes will be narrowed.
In the fall, I-81 traffic will be shifted into a new pattern at the bridge. Two lanes of traffic will continue to be open in the work zone, but motorists will be traveling on a different portion of roadway on the right side of the bridge.
Throughout construction, two lanes of northbound I-81 will remain open during daytime hours with nighttime closures possible during the hours of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. The speed limit will continue to be reduced to 60 miles per hour in the work zone.
The project is expected to be complete and the bridge in its final configuration with two lanes of Interstate 81 and the right deceleration lane/exit ramp by the end of 2026.
For the latest road conditions in Virginia, use VDOT’s 511 free mobile app or the 511 website which can help travelers plan their routes accordingly.
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March 30, 2026 @ 8:30 pm
This has been going on for years!!!!! Just wish they would get it done!!!! I’ll believe it when I see it!
March 31, 2026 @ 9:46 am
Some say we are the greatest nation on earth. An abomination like this project puts that into question. More and more we look like some Third World country to me.
Utterly unacceptable incompetence on the part of the contractor involved. Utterly unacceptable incompetence on the part of the state government that picked the contractor and has allowed this situation to perpetuate for all these years on a major north south artery in the eastern United States.
I was disgusted by it years ago. I was disgusted by it last year. I’m disgusted by it right now. And as citizens and taxpayers, we should probably be ashamed of ourselves for allowing it to go on.
It almost seems unimaginable that we could possibly have put a man on the moon in 1969 if we can’t replace a critical infrastructure bridge correctly and in a reasonable amount of time in 2026.
Heads should be rolling.