RELEASE: CONTACT:

IMMEDIATE Jason Bond 540-387-5250 saleminfo@VirginiaDOT.org

SAL-46 Aug. 26, 2004

TRAFFIC ALERT: LABOR DAY FLEA MARKET WILL CAUSE TRAFFIC DELAYS NEAR HILLSVILLE, VA.

Drivers considering Labor Day weekend trips through Hillsville, Va., will encounter heavy traffic and delays due to the town’s popular Labor Day Flea Market and Gun Show. The annual event will be held Sept. 3 – 6.

Thousands of visitors will attend the event and converge on a one-mile section of Route 58 in Hillsville. Traffic congestion will reduce the average traffic speed to about one mile per hour at the event’s peak.

“If you are attending the flea market, have a great time, but if you’re passing through Hillsville on routes 58, 52 and 221, you will encounter delays” explains Bob Beasley, assistant resident engineer for VDOT’s Hillsville Residency Office.

The Virginia Department of Transportation’s strategy for keeping traffic moving through the area remains the same as used in previous years.

VDOT crews will place signs a few days before the event, but turn the signs around so they are not visible. Then, on Friday, VDOT workers will turn the signs so that visitors can see the instructions.

Electronic message boards at the intersections of routes 52 and 148 at Fancy Gap will instruct motorists entering Hillsville to use Interstate 77 north. For safety reasons, no parking in the median on Route 58 from Hillsville town limits to I-77 will be permitted. “No Parking” signs will be posted.

Traffic on southbound West Grayson Street (Route 1020) will not be able to turn onto Route 58 and will need to use Old Galax Pike (Route 714). Route 58 traffic will be allowed to turn onto West Grayson Street to go north.

Anyone traveling near Hillsville and not planning to attend the flea market should follow instructions on signs and electronic message boards, which will give alternate routes around Hillsville.

“If you are not planning to attend the event, then you may want to consider avoiding the area all together,” advises Beasley.