Department takes additional measures to ease travel, maintain road access

HOLLY CHRISTOPHER

SUFFOLK

As Hurricane Florence approaches the coast, the Virginia Department of Transportation Hampton Roads District continues to monitor and prepare for potential weather-related impacts to local roadways and travel. While there will be no interstate lane reversals taking place, VDOT has taken additional measures to facilitate the evacuation efforts of those traveling through and from Hampton Roads, and keep Virginia moving as safely and efficiently as possible.

VDOT has announced the following updates to its plans:

• The suspension of scheduled lane closures continue on Interstate 64 and Interstate 664; however, VDOT has also extended these scheduled lane closure suspensions to include Routes 17, 58, 13, 460, and 60 in the Hampton Roads area. All HOV restrictions remain lifted on all Hampton Roads interstates until further notice.

• In addition to the previously announced toll suspensions for the 64 Express Lanes, VDOT has also suspended toll operations at the George P. Coleman Bridge in York County and Gloucester until further notice.

• The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry will no longer be suspending service today and will continue to run until further notice.

At this time, VDOT has no plans to close any of its major bridge or tunnel crossings, including the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. VDOT closes bridges, ramps or roads only when there is imminent danger to public safety, such as high water, structural damage or downed trees and debris blocking the roadway. There are no set wind restrictions to vehicular traffic at any of the VDOT-operated bridges in Hampton Roads. Complete bridge information can be found at: http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/hro-tunnel-default.asp.

Citizens are encouraged to limit travel during inclement weather and utilize the following tools provided by the Virginia Department of Transportation:

• Residents are reminded to report any problems such as flooding, downed trees, or road hazards to VDOT’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623) or by visiting my.vdot.virginia.gov.

• Statewide and local traffic conditions are available by calling 511,visiting www.511virginia.org or downloading the free mobile app at the 511 website.

Holly Christopher is a spokeswoman for VDOT.