Virginia will be reversing traffic on Interstate 64 Sunday in an emergency preparedness exercise to test state agencies' ability to reverse traffic for hurricanes.
The exercise will take place on May 11 from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.

The reversal of I-64 is part of the commonwealth's overall hurricane response plan. A reversal can be ordered by the governor to speed the evacuation of the Hampton Roads region in the event of a hurricane or other disaster.

The exercise involves closing I-64 east between I-295 near Richmond (Exit 200) to just east of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (Exit 272). The agencies will rehearse all of the steps needed to place westbound traffic in both the westbound and the eastbound lanes of I-64, but no actual westbound traffic will be routed onto the eastbound lanes during the exercise.

The exercise will test the commonwealth's lane-reversal plan and will allow the agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of communications tools, inter-agency procedures and the incident-command structure. It will provide real-world experience for the crews that will have to quickly close 36 interchanges and safely reverse the direction of travel on the interstate if an evacuation is ordered.

"We want to rehearse an interstate reversal before a real-world event makes it necessary," said Michael Cline, Virginia's state coordinator of emergency management. "It is vital that VDOT, VDEM, the State Police and the National Guard prepare for emergencies, just as we ask encourage all Virginians to develop and practice their own emergency plans."