What You Never Knew About Virginia Tech’s Road Safety Research Center

Hidden in the rolling hills around Blacksburg, VA there is a one-of-a-kind, world-class, 2.2-mile two-lane road that is unlike anything most motorists have ever experienced. It is also not accessible to the public - yet.

This revolutionary road is called the Virginia Smart Road. The closed test-bed research facility is managed by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) - the state's largest research center dedicated to save lives, save time and save money in the transportation field. Its ultimate goal is to design better cars and systems, as well as a better infrastructure to prevent traffic accidents in Virginia and throughout the nation.

The Virginia Smart Road facility is owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and managed by VTTI. In the future, depending upon growing traffic demands on the Route 460 Bypass as well as state and federal transportation funding, the Virginia Smart Road might be connected to Interstate 81 and enter the public domain.

In the meantime, what is going on at the Virginia Smart Road?
Transportation scientists and product developers have logged thousands of hours of research throughout the revolutionary facility. It contains many groundbreaking research tools, such as:

• weather-making capabilities, which allow the researchers to duplicate conditions such as rain, snow and fog;
• a variable lighting test bed;
• an on-site data acquisition system;
• differential GPS;
• road access and surveillance;
• and a fully signalized intersection.

The test-road also features the tallest bridge in Virginia, which is 175 feet above Wilson Creek and contains 450-foot spans.

The Virginia Smart Road is the world's first controlled all-weather test facility. Equipped with 75 weather-making towers, researchers can make it rain - from a drizzle to a raging downpour. Snow - from a light powder to thick flakes, as well as pavement ice cover - is also among the optional features. The lighting system is also capable of reproducing 95 percent of all lighting situations that a driver may encounter.

The road includes 600 different pavement designs and currently has 14 experimental pavement systems being evaluated. Researchers routinely conduct tests on a variety of items and ideas, including pavement markings, road signs, pedestrian safety and new vehicle headlamps.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and its Virginia Smart Road are research tools Virginia motorists can be proud of.

If you have been hurt in a Virginia car crash, please contact our Warrenton or Culpeper office today. You can have a free discussion of your case with one of our skilled, dedicated Virginia accident attorneys to see how we can help you secure fair compensation.