The Shadow
RICHMOND, VA (VR) — It’s the season for backyard cookouts, days on the lake, camping under the stars and eating ice cream fast enough before it melts off the cone. The summer travel season is about to get underway this Memorial Day weekend, whether you’re headed out of town or just navigating weekend traffic, driving safe and sober is the coolest move you can make.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will be suspending many highway work zones and lifting temporary lane closures on interstates and other major roads in Virginia from noon on Friday, May 22 until noon on Tuesday, May 26.
While lane closures will be lifted in most locations, motorists may encounter semi-permanent work zones that remain in place during this time. Check VDOT’s Travel Advisories for the latest travel alerts in your area and around the state.
Additionally, VDOT offers several resources to help plan travel ahead of time.
PLAN AHEAD WITH 511 VIRGINIA AND VIEW THE TRAVEL TRENDS MAP
VDOT’s free mobile 511 app offers information about construction, traffic, incidents and congestion as well as access to traffic cameras, weather, electric vehicle charging stations and more. By calling 511 from any phone in Virginia, use 511’s “speak ahead” option for hands-free and eyes-free audible traffic alerts for incidents and construction along your route. Traffic information is also available at 511.vdot.virginia.gov.
The 511 Virginia website also includes a travel trends map for the Memorial Day holiday period, showing peak congestion periods anticipated on Virginia interstates during the upcoming holiday travel period. While it cannot precisely predict when congestion will occur this year, it can help motorists avoid travel when traffic has historically moved the slowest. Using the menu at the top of 511.vdot.virginia.gov, click “Holiday Travel” to select the map for Memorial Day, which shows peak congestion periods anticipated on Virginia interstates during the upcoming holiday.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA EXPRESS LANES SCHEDULE
Find directional schedules for the reversible I-95 and I-395 Express Lanes, and information for the I-495 Express Lanes at expresslanes.com.
BRIDGE-TUNNELS IN THE HAMPTON ROADS AREA
Travel to Virginia Beach — Peninsula traffic to Virginia Beach is encouraged to use the I-664 Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (MMMBT) as an alternative to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) during construction. If traveling to Virginia Beach, take I-664 south to the MMMBT. Then take the Portsmouth/Norfolk exit (exit 15A) to I-264 east to Virginia Beach.
Travel to Outer Banks — Traffic to the North Carolina Outer Banks should use I-664 and the MMMBT as an alternative to the HRBT to save time during construction. From I-664 south, take I-64 west (exit 15, Chesapeake/Virginia Beach) to exit 291B (Chesapeake Expressway (Route 168)/Great Bridge/Nags Head). Continue south on Route 168 to the Outer Banks.
CELEBRATE TRANSPORTATION DAY
May 21 is Celebrate Transportation Day, which Virginia recognizes each year for the importance of the ease of mobility in improving residents’ quality of life.
Virginians have a variety of options to move around, including driving vehicles on roads and through mountain tunnels and bridge-tunnels, bicycling, and riding transit buses, trains, planes and ferries.
The history of transportation in Virginia can be traced back to the Jamestown settlement, where the “road along the River Bank” was used to transport supplies from ships to the Jamestown fort, according to the Jamestown Settlement museum. What they were traversing was probably a trail used by the nearby Paspahegh Indians. Evidence of a “Greate Road” between Jamestown Island and Glasshouse Point can still be found in the area.
As English settlement spread, the terminus of the Greate Road at Glasshouse Point would become the beginning of other roads leading to such familiar landmarks as Green Spring (home of Governor Sir William Berkeley) and Middle Plantation (later renamed Williamsburg).
Jamestown Settlement and Colonial Williamsburg are featured in the Virginia 250 Passport, a statewide initiative encouraging Virginians and visitors to commemorate America’s 250th by exploring dozens of premier historic sites and museums across five regions of Virginia. Check out the passport and consider using one of the many forms of transportation to visit a historic site this year.
Motorists can contact VDOT’s 24-hour Customer Service Center by visiting my.vdot.virginia.gov or calling 800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623) if they have questions or to report hazardous road conditions as they travel through Virginia.
