Interstate 81 in West Virginia

File:2016-08-24 13 49 39 View north along Interstate 81 just after entering Ridgeway, Berkeley County, West Virginia from Rest, Frederick County, Virginia.jpg

I-81 enters the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia just west of Ridgeway, paralleling US 11 (also known as the Valley Pike).{{cite book|last=Clauson-Wicker|first=Su|title=Off the Beaten Path: West Virginia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQWqrt2lsDkC&pg=PA15|access-date=February 7, 2011|date=December 1, 2006|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=978-0-7627-4218-9|page=15}} The highway passes through some light farmland before entering a wooded area, north of Ridgeway. A welcome center for northbound travelers is passed before the woodlands give way to a light urban setting. As the highway approaches the community of Inwood, a diamond interchange with West Virginia Route 51 (WV 51) provides access to the community, as well as Gerrardstown to the west of the freeway and Charles Town to the east. A small business park is passed by before I-81 intersects County Route 32 (CR 32), providing access to Arden, Eastern WV Regional Airport, and Tablers Station. The freeway turns more toward the north as it approaches Martinsburg, intersecting WV 45, CR 15 (King Street), and CR 13 (Dry Run Road) while in the city limits. I-81 bypasses downtown, running along the western border of town while US 11 continues through the town.

Just northeast of Martinsburg, the freeway passes under CSX Transportation's Cumberland Subdivision rail line while a cloverleaf interchange with WV 9 provides access back to Martinsburg and to Hedgesville.{{cite map|publisher=West Virginia Department of Transportation|title=General Highway Map - Berkeley County, West Virginia|url=http://gis.wvdot.com/gti/08_County_Maps/Berkeley_1_of_2.pdf|access-date=February 5, 2011|date=January 1, 2008|scale=1:63,360|section=E3|format=PDF}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} As the freeway curves back east, it intersects WV 901 between Hainesville and Falling Waters. WV 901 is a short connector route back to US 11. North of Falling Waters and south of Marlowe, US 11 intersects the freeway and continues north while I-81 turns east toward the Maryland state line at the Potomac River. Just south of the river is a welcome center intended for southbound travelers from Maryland.

Out of the six states that I-81 passes through, the segment in West Virginia is the second shortest, only longer than the Maryland segment.{{cite web|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/interstate_highway_system/routefinder/table01.cfm?redirect|title=Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways|date=October 31, 2002|work=Route Log and Finder List|publisher=Federal Highway Administration|access-date=February 5, 2011}} Every year, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2009, WVDOT calculated that as few as 45,000 vehicles traveled along the highway at the Virginia state line and as many as 62,500 vehicles used the freeway between CR 15 and CR 13 in Martinsburg.{{cite map|url=http://www.transportation.wv.gov/highways/programplanning/preliminary_engineering/traffic_analysis/trafficvolume/interstatecounts/Documents/I81_to_MD_09.pdf|publisher=West Virginia Department of Transportation|access-date=February 5, 2011|year=2009|format=PDF|title=I81 - Virginia to Maryland|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721075239/http://www.transportation.wv.gov/highways/programplanning/preliminary_engineering/traffic_analysis/trafficvolume/interstatecounts/Documents/I81_to_MD_09.pdf|archive-date=July 21, 2011}} As part of the Interstate Highway System,{{cite journal|last=Slater|first=Rodney E.|date=Spring 1996|title=The National Highway System: A Commitment to America's Future|journal=Public Roads|volume=59|issue=4|url=https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/spring-1996/national-highway-system-commitment-americas-future|access-date=January 24, 2011}} the entire route is listed on the National Highway System, a system of roads that are important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.{{cite map|publisher=Federal Highway Administration|title=National Highway System: West Virginia|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/wv/wv_WestVirginia.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017004035/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/maps/wv/wv_WestVirginia.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 17, 2008|access-date=January 23, 2011|date=March 2005|format=PDF}}

File:2019-07-10 09 36 39 View north along Interstate 81 from the overpass for Berkeley County Route 26 (Runnymeade Road) in Bunker Hill, Berkeley County, West Virginia.jpg

I-81 roughly parallels the Great Indian Warpath, an old Indian trail which connected New York to the Carolina Piedmont via Virginia and West Virginia.{{cite book|last1=Rice|first1=Otis K.|last2=Brown|first2=Stephen W.|title=West Virginia: A History|url=https://archive.org/details/westvirginiahist00rice_0|url-access=registration|access-date=February 7, 2011|year=1993|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-1854-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/westvirginiahist00rice_0/page/10 10]}} A series of roads linking Virginia to Maryland through Martinsburg were present on maps as early as 1873.{{cite map|publisher=M.W. White|title=White's Topographical, County & District Atlas of West Virginia. Counties of Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson.|url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~28412~1120347:White-s-topographical,-county-&-dis?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No|access-date=February 5, 2011|year=1873|scale=1:310,000|page=22}}

Bids for construction of I-81 by WVDOT were published in 1959, with a budget of about $10.6 million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|10600000|1959}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) to complete the highway.{{cite journal|year=1959|title=West Virginia|journal=Engineering News-Record|publisher=McGraw-Hill|volume=162|page=71|issn=0013-807X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=15UzAQAAIAAJ&q=%22interstate+81%22%27}} Completion of I-81 in Virginia up to the West Virginia state line was completed by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in November 1965.{{cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/econdev/i81va.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050321014458/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/econdev/i81va.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 21, 2005|title=Economic Development History of Interstate 81 in Virginia|date=November 5, 2008|publisher=Federal Highway Administration|access-date=February 5, 2011}} The first {{convert|6|mi|km|spell=in}} of the highway through West Virginia were completed between 1959 and 1963.{{cite book|last=Doherty|first=William T.|title=Berkeley County, U.S.A.: a Bicentennial History of a Virginia and West Virginia County, 1772-1972|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfARAQAAIAAJ|access-date=February 7, 2011|year=1972|publisher=McClain Printing Company|page=355|isbn=9780870121098 }} The construction of the remaining {{convert|20|mi|km}} of Interstate Highway through the Eastern Panhandle was completed by 1966.{{cite web|url=http://www.millenniumhwy.net/wvroads/system.pdf|title=West Virginia Highways: Classification Systems, Characteristics and Usage|year=1997|work=As a Matter of Fact...|pages=II–8|access-date=February 5, 2011|publisher=West Virginia Department of Transportation}} Since then, there have been no major realignments, and the highway continues on its original path.

In 2014, WVDOT officials announced in conjunction with the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) that the bridges over the Potomac River would be rehabilitated to accommodate three lanes of highway in each direction. The widening of the highway is proposed to head south along I-81 to exit 23 for US 11. Construction started in the middle of 2016.{{cite news |url=http://www.your4state.com/story/i-81-potomac-river-bridges-to-undergo-makeover/d/story/dovKl0PgCUiNnuqwGLco5g |title=I-81 Potomac River Bridges to Undergo Makeover |publisher=WHAG-TV |date=January 16, 2014 |access-date=August 14, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150831004435/http://www.your4state.com/story/i-81-potomac-river-bridges-to-undergo-makeover/d/story/dovKl0PgCUiNnuqwGLco5g |archive-date=August 31, 2015 }}{{cite news |url=http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/603562/State-plans-construction-project-to-widen-I-81-to-Potomac-River-bridges.html?nav=5006 |title=State plans construction project to widen I-81 to Potomac River bridges |newspaper=The Journal |author=McVey, John |date=January 16, 2014 |access-date=August 14, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307081605/http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/603562/State-plans-construction-project-to-widen-I-81-to-Potomac-River-bridges.html?nav=5006 |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}

{{jcttop|exit|state=WV|county=Berkeley|exit_ref={{cite web|url=http://www.transportation.wv.gov/communications/interstate_interchanges/Pages/InterstateInterchanges.aspx|title=West Virginia Interstate 81 Interchanges|publisher=West Virginia Department of Transportation|access-date=February 5, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110421063736/http://www.transportation.wv.gov/communications/interstate_interchanges/Pages/InterstateInterchanges.aspx|archive-date=April 21, 2011}}|length_ref={{google maps|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=I-81+N&daddr=I-81+N&hl=en&geocode=FaSYVwIdYJJY-w%3BFXwCXAIdRmZc-w&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=13&sll=39.593916,-77.830067&sspn=0.07897,0.117931&ie=UTF8&ll=39.584921,-77.86869&spn=0.078981,0.117931&z=13|title=Interstate 81 in West Virginia|access-date=February 5, 2011}}}}

{{WVint|exit

|location=Ridgeway

|mile=0.0

|exit=

|road={{jct|state=VA|I|81|dir1=south|city1=Winchester|location2=Roanoke}}

|notes=Continuation into Virginia

}}

{{WVint|exit

|location=Inwood

|mile=5.0

|exit=5

|road={{jct|state=WV|WV|51|city1=Inwood|city2=Charles Town}}

}}

{{WVint|exit

|location=Tablers Station

|mile=8.5

|exit=8

|road={{jct|state=WV|WV|243|name1=Tablers Station Road}}

|notes=Access to Eastern WV Regional Airport

}}

{{WVint|exit

|location=Martinsburg

|lspan=4

|mile=11.7

|exit=12

|road={{jct|state=WV|WV|9|WV|45|dir1=east|name1=Winchester Avenue|city1=Charles Town}}

}}

{{WVint|exit

|mile=13.1

|exit=13

|road={{jct|state=WV|CR|15|county1=Berkeley|name1=King Street}}

}}

{{WVint|exit

|mile=14.2

|exit=14

|road={{jct|state=WV|CR|13|county1=Berkeley|name1=Dry Run Road, Tennessee Avenue}}

}}

{{WVint|exit

|mile=16.0

|exit=16

|road={{jct|state=WV|WV|9|city1=Berkeley Springs|name1=North Queen Street}}

|notes=Signed as exits 16E (south) and 16W (north); cloverleaf interchange

}}

{{WVint|exit

|location=Spring Mills

|mile=20.4

|exit=20

|road={{jct|state=WV|WV|901|name1=Spring Mills Road}}

}}

{{WVint|exit

|location=Marlowe

|lspan=2

|mile=23.5

|exit=23

|road={{jct|state=WV|US|11|city1=Marlowe|city2=Falling Waters}}

}}

{{WVint|exit

|mile=26.0

|exit=

|road={{jct|state=MD|I|81|dir1=north|city1=Hagerstown}}

|notes=Continuation into Maryland

}}

{{Jctbtm}}

{{portal|U.S. Roads}}

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81

West Virginia

Category:Transportation in Berkeley County, West Virginia