Thousands of commuters make the daily drive between the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia, braving the unpredictable Afton Mountain.
Now, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is unveiling new plans to make the drive over the mountain on Interstate 64 a little less stressful.
The Afton-mountain stretch on Interstate 64 already has electronic message boards, traffic cameras, and variable-intensity fog lights. Now VDOT is eyeing $8 million in new high-tech enhancements.
The enhancement zone runs from mile marker 96 at Waynesboro to mile 107 at Crozet. The so-called "active traffic safety management system" would kick in during times of fog, snow-and-ice, congestion or accidents.
That stretch would have variable speed limits, depending on driving conditions. New message boards would alert drivers to those limits, and keep them informed about changing weather or traffic patterns. VDOT plans to begin making the improvements next summer.
