ROANOKE, Va. – Interstate 581 has notoriously short weaving lanes for drivers to enter and exit the roadway. Getting on and off 581 can be a bit tricky in many spots.
A weaving section, or weave lane, is a lane in which drivers can both enter and exit onto a given roadway. In many areas of Roanoke, these lanes are very short.
“581 was built in 1960, so you have that clover leaf pattern up and own 581—and even on I-81. And so, when you look at the interstate standards from 1960 versus today, they’re much different. It was also built when we didn’t have as much traffic going on it."
Jenna Zibton, VDOT Spokesperson
After observing traffic flow at exit 4 over several days, 10 News noticed that some drivers approach the entrance as intended. For others, not so much. So, what is the correct way to approach the interchange?
“Yield means stop if somebody’s coming, but it’s not a really great idea to come on to an on ramp and be slowing down. You should be accelerating you wanna get up to speed to enter the roadway. In this case it’s 55 miles per hour.”
Jim Stepp, Owner of Brambleton Driving School
“So when you’re entering the roadway if you cannot merge safely you need to stop at the top of that ramp. Drivers on 581 have the Right-of-Way in that situation.”
Jenna Zibton, VDOT Spokesperson
A majority of the time, drivers approach yield signs as they were designed. However, some just run right through. Others will stop in front of the sign - so far in front that it’s both impeding the cars exiting the highway, and starting a domino effect for trailing vehicles.
“Following distance is a problem; people want to tailgate. Now I understand in Northern Virginia and some other places, where they have a lot of traffic, you almost have to, but in this area we’re pretty blessed.”
Jim Stepp, Owner of Brambleton Driving School
Between Nov. 1, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2025, 35 crashes have happened heading Northbound on Exit 4, according to VDOT. Most of these were side swipes and rear-end crashes, but many of them could have been prevented had the vehicles entering the highway yielded better to those already on it.
So, how can drivers be more cautious while navigating these short lanes?
- Plan ahead. If you have an exit coming up, prepare to move over and look at the signs.
- Make sure you can push your vehicle up to speed. If you can’t, wait for another gap to merge.
- Check your blind spots for vehicles you might not see in the mirror.
“Especially with lane changes, a lot people don’t necessarily want to look away from the road and do that proper head check to find that blind spot ... You really should use the acronym S.M.O.G.: Signal, mirror, over the shoulder. ‘Go’ is what the G stands for.”
Jim Stepp, Owner of Brambleton Driving School