HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — The parade of oversized loads traveling through downtown Harrisonburg with a police escort earlier today, May 11, 2026, was nothing too out of the ordinary.

That’s according to Harrisonburg Police Lieutenant Todd Miller who says authorities try to consolidate various wide or tall loads traveling through the city into one traffic disruption, instead of many.

 “When we know that there are multiple of them coming through, we try to get them together as best as we can and we do one escort instead of – in this case it would’ve been five different escorts. We’re trying to be (the) least disruptive to traffic (as possible and) get them all through at once.”

Miller reports that the Pleasant Valley Road overpass presents height restrictions that force many oversized loads off I-81 at Exit 243 and down through city streets, before they can re-enter the interstate via Exit 251, and vice versa.

Once a new, taller bridge is installed in the area, Miller says, truck detours will decrease.