There’s a new and terrible transportation hazard in the Old Dominion, and two state agencies appear trying to stomp it out: Protests by older activists along highway overpasses.
You might’ve observed that in the upper Shenandoah Valley, at Exit 283 in Woodstock. Or in the New River Valley, on an overpass above U.S. 460.
This sign went up last week near a highway overpass in Christiansburg where anti-Trump activists have been staging demonstrations. VDOT also placed identical signs near an overpass above Interstate 81 in Woodstock, at Exit 273.
For weeks, white-haired activists — I call them “gray panthers†— have been staging weekly anti-Trump demonstrations on overpasses in Christiansburg and Woodstock. Many of the protestors are grandparents and/or ex-hippies.
The demonstrators display all caps white letters on black backgrounds spelling messages such as “#ReleaseTheFiles†— a reference to sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein — and “#WeStandWithDC,†which opposes the federal government’s takeover of law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
People are also reading…
Some but not all of the protestors are Virginia members of the , a nationwide movement. It has .
But lately, the Virginia Department of Transportation has been cracking down on these protests. And so have the Virginia State Police.
In August, VDOT placed signs prohibiting demonstrations leading to an overpass at Exit 283 in Woodstock. This past week, VDOT erected the no-loitering signs at a Christiansburg overpass that New River Valley activists have been using weekly since July.
The Montgomery County Visibility Brigade found the signs Wednesday when they showed up for their regular protest.
“Bridge is for travel purposes only,†the sign says. “Use or occupancy of this right of way for any non-travel purpose is prohibited and considered trespassing. No stopping, standing, loitering or assembly.â€
The Virginia Administrative Code section (above), which is cited on recent signs VDOT placed in Christiansburg and Woodstock, appears to be unrelated to First Amendment demonstrations on highway overpasses.
(Oddly, the sign cites a section of Virginia’s Administrative Code, 24 VAC 30-21-30, that appears related to building permits rather than protests.)
Joan Wages, an activist with Montgomery County Visibility Brigade, said the new signs did not prevent activists in Christiansburg Wednesday morning from unveiling a “#ReleaseTheFiles†message on the overpass, which is near the Golden Hills Disc Golf Course, a county park.
“No one was cited or arrested or warned,†Wages said. “No officers of the law came up onto the overpass or communicated anything to us while we were there on Wednesday.â€
She added: “I did notice a state trooper vehicle was stopped on the shoulder of the highway (facing toward us) for several minutes during the time that we were displaying our message (Release the Files) from the overpass.â€
Wednesday, demonstrators in Christiansburg defied a new warning sign the Virginia Department of Transportation recently placed near a pedestrian overpass above U.S. 460. Nobody was arrested Wednesday in Christiansburg. But Monday near Mount Jackson, Virginia state troopers arrested two elderly activists who demonstrated after being ordered by police to leave.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Mark Hollandsworth said that doesn’t necessarily mean protestors at the Christiansburg overpass won’t be arrested or cited in the future.
“Law enforcement officers in Virginia have discretion in misdemeanor violations, to warn, summons, or arrest,†he said. “We would always work to resolve the situation by asking person(s) who may be in violation of the sign to move along first and make common sense decisions from there.â€
On Aug. 30, Virginia State Police joined the crackdown. At a regular demonstration by the Shenandoah Bridge Brigade, state police charged Joan Griffin, 70, of Bayse with loitering at Exit 283.
Griffin continued demonstrating after police ordered her to move on. They also issued several written warnings to others.
“I decided to continue walking on the bridge, to get the citation,†Griffin told me. Her case is scheduled Oct. 14 in Shenandoah County General District Court.
VDOT spokeswoman Amy Friedenberger said the placement of the signs in Woodstock and Christiansburg were recently approved by Virginia Highway Commissioner Stephen Brich.
The signs were erected “in response to safety concerns,†she said. “The sign relays that bridges and right-of-way are for travel purposes only.
“VDOT installed these signs for the sole purpose of public safety,†Friedenberger added. “Signs and banners placed or waved from bridges directly over traffic create a distraction to drivers. VDOT looks into concerns or issues for the safety of the traveling public — whether it be motorists or pedestrians — as they arise.â€
Friedenberger said the anti-loitering signs in Woodstock and Christiansburg are the only such warnings VDOT has placed near overpasses during 2025. It was unclear Friday who asked VDOT or Virginia State Police to get involved.
On Labor Day, Virginia’s State Police dispatched nine troopers to handle a protest by 10 to 12 mostly senior citizens at the Shenandoah Caverns exit (269), said police spokesman Matt Demlein.
Virginia State Police break up a highway-overpass protest on Labor Day at exit 269 along Interstate 81. Troopers arrested two senior citizens who refused police orders to leave.
Unlike Christiansburg and Woodstock, the Exit 269 overpass wasn’t posted against loitering or demonstrating. But that doesn’t matter, Friedenberger said.
“Those regulations apply whether signs are posted or not,†she added.
At the Exit 269 protest, police handcuffed and arrested two alleged scofflaws. One, Rochelle Gingrich, is a 69-year-old grandmother of five.
“I believe Shenandoah County and Virginia State Police were actively and aggressively trying to suppress my right to protest,†said Michael Dart, 73, of Paige County, the other person arrested.
Gingrich is a retired respiratory therapist and real estate agent. Dart is retired after 25 years as a Virginia parole and probation officer.
They told me they were held for two to four hours at a nearby jail then released after a magistrate refused to approve obstruction charges (for which they were charged anyway).
The next day, troopers visited each at their homes and issued additional citations for loitering and trespassing, Pierce said. Dart lives about 45 minutes away from Exit 269.
Their court hearings are scheduled for October, also.
Mark Pierce, a retired physician and founder of Shenandoah Bridge Brigade, said his group is composed of peaceful, nonviolent “old white haired hippie people.â€
Since the signs went up in Woodstock, members of Shenandoah Bridge Brigade have stayed on roadsides and off the Exit 283 overpass, he said. But protestors aren’t nearly as visible that way.
“That really restricted motorists’ sight lines to us,†Pierce said.
