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Route 58 Project a massive undertaking over Lovers Leap Mountain

Looking westward atop Lovers Leap Mountain.
VDOT
Looking westward atop Lovers Leap Mountain.

Route 58 is Virginia’s longest road, running from the Atlantic Ocean to the far western tip of the state. More than 30 years ago, the state set out to upgrade the road. Now, construction crews are tackling one of the final – and definitely tallest – challenges.

A recent day trip took me from Hillsville eastward on Route 58 toward Martinsville. What I wasn’t aware of, was the construction project that lay ahead of me.

It began with a section reduced to one lane where I waited for several minutes with a healthy queue of other vehicles to proceed up Lover’s Leap Mountain.

The Route 58 Project involves moving 10 million cubic yards of material.
VDOT
The Route 58 Project involves moving 10 million cubic yards of material.

Now, I’ve driven through my share of road work zones, but nothing close to this. As I navigated each twist and turn up the mountain, the scale of this project became more and more apparent.

Lead by a pilot vehicle, the line of traffic that I was a part of moved along at a steady but deliberate pace, allowing me to take it all in. With each curve in the road I came around, the scene unfolded before me. Jaw-dropping.

Mountainsides, carved away to accommodate new lanes. An armada of giant construction vehicles moving rubble and pushing earth across the landscape. All I could think of was that, at one time, this is what a good portion of our nation looked like during the construction of our interstate system. Though, not an Interstate, the Route 58 Project is an undertaking on a similar scale.

VDOT spokesperson Jason Bond explains the scene, “This is a $300 million project to widen Route 58 from two lanes to four lanes and that will be accomplished by building new eastbound lanes. The project began in fall of 2021 and is expected to be completed in the summer of '26.”

The Route 58 Project will widen a 7.5 mile stretch to four lanes.
VDOT
The Route 58 Project will widen a 7.5 mile stretch to four lanes.

Tony Handy, an area construction engineer, says even he is in awe of the scope of the project, “It’s certainly the biggest job I have been involved with. For the folks who ride through, if you’ve not rode through in a while, it will be dramatic every time you come through. It will grab your eye!”

The project is well under way – but far from finished.

“We have been blasting pretty much on a daily basis for the last two years probably. And we’ll probably be blasting for another year. Typically, they’ll do two to three blasts a day”, says Handy.

Bond offers some staggering numbers and statistics, “This project involves moving ten million cubic yards of material. And you’re literally building seven and a half miles of roadway over a mountain. And this particular mountain has elevations that range between 1,300 and 3,000 feet.”

Two well-seasoned veterans of many road projects, Bond and Handy reflect on this project and put it into historical context. “Folks today I don’t think have a real concept of what it was like when the Interstate System was originally built because it’s been a part of our lives for decades now”, says Bond.

The project elevations range from 1,300 to 3,000 feet.
VDOT
The project elevations range from 1,300 to 3,000 feet.

Then Handy offers, “It gives me perspective on how they built things back then. I mean, just the technology alone. Very similar to riding on the parkway sometimes – and you look and you go 'Wow! They did that.' And it just gives you a real appreciation of the folks who came before us that did this stuff.”

And, when thinking about it in those terms, the slowdown through this construction zone becomes an opportunity to acknowledge the roads and engineering feats we might otherwise take for granted.

Craig Wright hosts All Things Considered on Radio IQ.