MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va.—
Many of you have questions after two large boulders the size of cars fell on Interstate 81 Monday during blasting.The blasting was suspended Tuesday.
Virginia's Department of Transportation says that was because of mechanical issues, not because of what happened Monday.
But the state realizes many drivers are tired of the detours and the backups.
The good news is most of the blasting will soon be over.
Traffic was moving just fine Tuesday on Interstate 81 in Montgomery County.
Blasting was suspended so there was no detour.
On Monday two large boulders, seen in the picture above provided to us by VDOT, fell on the road during blasting.
It took hours to cleanup, and as a result caused huge backups on Route 460.
"Bumper to bumper traffic. It was horrible, absolutely horrible and yesterday and was the worst but everyday Monday through Friday is awful," said Montgomery County resident Vicki Bittinger said.
VDOT says what happened Monday was unfortunate but unavoidable.
"Those things happen, and it's not the first time we've had debris in the road," VDOT spokesman Jason Bond said. "And there's probably the potential we could have more as we move forward with the blasting."
VDOT and the contractor aren't doing anything differently in light of Monday's incident.
The good news is the blasting that shuts the Interstate daily is almost complete.
"Certainly, the blasting is an inconvenience and we're hoping by this spring, it's 65% completed now. We're hoping to complete it by this spring," Bond said.
For those who live and work along the detour, that day can't come soon enough.
"People that live on this side trying to come across up the mouton, it's terrible," Montgomery County resident Cathy Journell said. "There's been a lot of fender benders and traffic is backed up forever."
By the end of April, VDOT hopes to stop detouring traffic off of I-81 every day.
After that, there will be what they call rolling roadblocks on the interstate for another month.
Traffic will be escorted by a state trooper and will slowly drive through the construction zone.
Typically, it only causes a 15 to 20 minute delay
