VDOT News - Richmond

CULPEPER — During the next several weeks drivers on Interstate 64 from Albemarle County to Goochland County will see crews removing trees, limbs and other debris from the highway shoulders and median. The crews will use open-top tractor-trailers equipped with grapple claws to load the debris into the trucks and haul it to disposal sites.

There will be both mobile and stationary work zones with right shoulder closures between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. for the next three to four weeks. Motorists should be alert for signs and slow down as they approach the work areas and expect large vehicles and workers near the open travel lanes. Once the right side of the highway is clear the crews will move to the median. While trees and debris are removed from the median the left shoulder and left lane will be closed to accommodate the trucks and other equipment and provide safe working space for the crews.

Thousands of trees fell in a 50-mile stretch of I-64 in Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa and Goochland County during the major storm that struck the Commonwealth on Jan. 3. Those trees blocking the travel lanes were cut into movable pieces and pushed to the shoulders to allow snowplows to continue moving and keep the highway open. Many other trees fell into the “clear zone” outside the shoulder and are a hazard in the event a vehicle runs off the highway.

Four debris removal crews are working on the eastbound highway from Exit 124 at Shadwell, another four crews are working in the westbound lanes from mile marker 176 in Henrico County toward mile marker 124 at Charlottesville. The operation is a cooperative effort between VDOT’s Culpeper and Richmond districts and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, and involves several specialty debris removal and monitoring contractors.

The vacant rest area at mile marker 145 eastbound will be used as a temporary debris management site. The debris will be dumped there and ground into chips for final disposal. Drivers should be alert for trucks exiting and entering the highway and avoid the eastbound right lane in that area.

In both Richmond and Culpeper District assessments of the amount and location of debris on VDOT rights of way on primary and secondary roads are under way. Once those assessments are complete the districts will coordinate with the contractors to remove debris along those roads.

VDOT’s Customer Service Center is open 24 hours a day to answer questions and take reports of roadway hazards. Call 1-800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623) or contact us online at https://my.vdot.virginia.gov. Information about local travel conditions and incidents are posted on Facebook and to the Culpeper District’s Twitter account, @VaDOTCulp, and the Richmond District’s Twitter account, @VaDOTRVA.

The Culpeper District includes the counties of Albemarle, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock, while the Richmond District covers Amelia, Brunswick, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico (primary routes only), Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan and Prince George counties.

(END)

Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.