The Interstate 81 Corridor Coalition
What is the Interstate 81 Corridor Coalition?
The coalition is partnership comprised of local, regional, and state organizations that are all interested in sound transportation planning. The Coalition includes local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, and state transportation departments, as well as private sector and non-profit organizations. These partners are from each of the six states that the corridor runs through.
Vision of the I-81 Corridor Coalition
The I-81 Corridor Transportation Network, supporting both freight and passenger movement will be safe, efficient, environmentally sensitive, seamless and intermodal. The network will support economic development and encourage coordinated land use policy.
Mission of the I-81 Corridor Coalition
We will work together in the I-81 Corridor to improve freight and passenger movement through the corridor. This will be accomplished through the sharing of information and coordinated decision making, management and operations.
Interstate 81
Interstate 81, 855 miles in length and traversing six states, is part of the Eisenhower National System of Interstate Highways. Given its proximity to the highly urbanized and densely populated northeastern United States, the highway is one of the nation's leading conduits for goods movement and truck traffic. As such there are significant issues of congestion, safety, economic development, land use, and environment. Historical trends, increasing population, and greater development along the corridor strongly indicate a worsening of these complex transportation problems and thus urgently suggest a highly coordinated planning and management effort for Interstate 81.
Special Features
"Fear, Facts, and Future": A Roanoke Times Special Feature
Behind each of the 266 fatal crashes on I-81 between 1998 and 2008 is a story of human lives. Families. Commuters. Vacationers. Truckers. Many begin like any other trip on the road, then something happens. A tire blows. The road gets icy. Someone falls asleep. Click on the points below to read about the many lives upon whom I-81 has left an indelible mark.
Special Feature
I-81: Troubled Highway: A Multi-Newspaper Special Feature
A joint feature of the Public Opinion, Chambersburg; The Sentinel, Carlisle; and the Lebanon Daily News, along with a journalism class at Shippensburg University taught by Dr. Michael Drager.
The four-part series, published simultaneously by the three newspapers in print and online Jan. 16-19, examines the ways Interstate 81 has re-shaped the smaller communities along its path, including Chambersburg, Carlisle and Lebanon. It has been both an economic lifeline and a challenge to public safety, while its continued viability is increasingly at risk due to little funding or public commitment to its future.
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