VDOT presents road improvement list
Published 11:34 am Saturday, June 1, 2013
COURTLAND—A public hearing held Tuesday during the Southampton County Board of Supervisors meeting concerned a priority list for improvements to secondary and unpaved roads, which is used in formulating the Six-Year Secondary Road Improvement Plan.
Virginia Department of Transportation Residency Administrator Joe Lomax was on hand to present the list, which had been worked on over time by the board.
Various pots of money funneled through VDOT are used to pay for the paving of roads in the county and improve others. These state allocations come from the Commonwealth Transportation Board, as well as TeleFee monies, which come from utility companies paying fees to put fiber optics along right-of-ways and mediums.
The list includes:
* Route 688, Rose Valley Road, .5 miles south of Intersection of Route 671, fully funded with engineering phase under way;
* Route 671, General Thomas Highway, .05 miles west of intersection of Route 650 and .023 miles west of intersection of Route 687, being worked on;
* Route 651, Indian Town Road, this is now paved and waiting to close out the project;
* Route 743, Fullers Mill Road, at Route 671, ready for funding;
* Route 654, Rawlings Road, to be funded in 2018; and
* Route 646, Governor Darden Road, additional funding needed.
Lomax explained that all of the roads are secondary, but some are unpaved. The priorities are determined by the board of supervisors, in conjunction with VDOT. Lomax said during his presentation that over the last two years there had been a lack of funding. Projects on the six-year plan have to be funded and construction completed in six years time to qualify. But all is contingent upon funding.
Some unpaved roads getting funded with new category money are required to have a traffic count of 200 cars per day. Those roads to be included for those special funds are:
* Rawlings Road, from Route 609 to Route 58;
* Warrique Road, from Crumpler Road to Proctors Bridge Road;
* Warrique Road, from Proctors Bridge Road to Broadwater;
v Delaware Schoolhouse Road for four-tenths of mile; and
* Guy Place Road, from Route 616 (Wakefield Road) to 628 (Ivor Road).
Following the presentation, the board adopted a resolution approving the list.