Less MC road work funds available

Madison County road fix-ups have hit a pothole – there’s less money than expected for road paving and widening this year. 

Virginia Department of Transportation officials recently changed the county’s six-year plan so it only lists projects that are set to receive money during the coming fiscal year. The change resulted in three road projects being cut from the roadwork priority list, leaving seven projects set to receive some money this year.

VDOT typically assigns funding toward each road project according to its placement on the plan, which is approved by the board of supervisors each year, according to VDOT Residency Administrator Don Gore.

Despite some discussion about possibly bumping up some of the roadwork projects currently toward the bottom of the list, the supervisors voted 4-1, with Vice Chairman James Arrington casting the lone no vote, to approve the current six-year plan as is, leaving the placement of projects on the list untouched. (The vote came at the supervisors regularly scheduled May 13 meeting.)

In response to residents’ comments at a February public hearing, officials had planned to add a project to widen and pave Route 706 (Turner Road), a road that dead ends at a business. Residents had complained that the road is too narrow for two oncoming vehicles to safely pass each other, according to officials.

At the meeting earlier this year, Arrington proposed that the board not only add the Route 706 project to the plan but make it a top priority. Due to funding constraints, the supervisors were unable to add any new projects to the list this year.

VDOT officials moved three of the plan’s current projects onto the six-year plan’s “auxiliary list,” which includes the projects that are not currently receiving money.

The plan’s change is due to officials repeatedly adding road projects to the six-year plan when funding was unavailable, stretching the plan’s projects beyond a six-year planning period, Gore told the board.

At the May 13 meeting, about five residents of Wright’s Lane (Route 700) in Radiant, which is now included on the six-year plan’s “auxiliary list,” spoke to the supervisors about what they said were safety issues related to driving on their unpaved, curvy road.

Arrington suggested officials consider moving Route 700 up the list, although Gore reminded him that doing that would require taking funding off one of the other road projects.

“We have [residents] of Route 700 here today, we take one of these other routes off and we’ll have another group here,” Supervisors Eddie Dean said at the meeting.

Another Madison County resident who attended the meeting, Nan Coppedge of Duet Road, may see some progress on her street before the year is done. VDOT officials plan to advertise for bids to widen and pave Route 642 (Duet Road) in November or December.

But the work hasn’t come without a wait for Duet Road residents – the project was first added to the plan in 1995. Legal issues concerning an overgrown graveyard that was discovered on property near the road delayed the project. In 2005, a judge ruled that the group of graves would remain in the Banco-Etlan area cemetery, although at least two would have to be moved.

In 2006, these two graves were moved further from the road and the plans to correct a sharp curve nearby were modified slightly, according to VDOT officials

Also receiving funds this coming year include a project to widen and pave Route 614 (Twyman’s Mill Road) and a Route 621 (Jacks Shop Road) bridge repair plan. Funding is being directed toward these roads due to requirements that the department spend a certain amount of money on federally designated projects within the county, including work on major rural roads and bridges, according to Gore.

The county’s six-year plan includes the following project priorities (in the order they were approved by the board of supervisors May 13):

• Widening and paving of Route 642 (Duet Road) from the intersection of Route 231 (South Francis Thornton Valley Road) to Route 701 (Dulaney Mountain Road).

• Widening and paving of Route 662 (Shifflet’s Corner Lane) from the intersection of Route 624 (Annie’s Road) to the road’s dead end.

• Widening and paving of Route 680 (Gate Road) from the intersection of U.S. 29 (North Seminole Trail) to Route 667 (Doc Carpenter Lane).

• Widening and paving of Route 695 (Yager Mountain Road) from the intersection of Route 655 (Glebe Lane) to the road’s dead end.

• Widening and paving of Route 614 (Twyman’s Mill Road) from the intersection of U.S. 15 (James Madison Highway) to Route 706 (Turner Road).

• Reconstruction and paving of Route 721 (Woodward Hollow Road) from the intersection of Route 641 (Weaver Hollow Road) to the road’s dead end.

• Bridge improvement on Route 621 (Jacks Shop Road).

• The six-year plan’s “auxiliary list,” which refers to roadwork projects previously on the six-year plan that are not currently receiving funding, includes:

• Reconstruction and paving of Route 708 (Rochelle School Lane) from the intersection with Route 231 (South Blue Ridge Turnpike) to the road’s dead end.

• Reconstruction and paving of Route 620 (Race Ground Road) from the intersection with Route 231 (South Blue Ridge Turnpike) to about one mile west of Route 231.

• Reconstruction and paving of Route 700 (Wrights Lane) from the intersection of Route 230 (Orange Road) to the road’s dead end.

In other matters at the Madison County Board of Supervisors regularly scheduled May 13 meeting, the board:

• Listened to Shenandoah National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright’s comments about the park’s proposal to construct a new parking lot in Nethers to serve the hiking enthusiasts who visit Old Rag Mountain. Cartwright also mentioned that he would be leaving his post in late May to become superintendent of Glacier National Park in Montana. Shenandoah National Park Deputy Superintendent Trish Kicklighter will act in Cartwright’s place until a replacement is found, he said. 

• Set a second public hearing regarding the county’s proposed 2008-2009 fiscal year budget for 6:30 p.m. June 16 in the auditorium of the County Administration Center, prior to the county’s public hearing regarding its proposed tax rates at 7:30 p.m. that evening.

• Heard comments from Sheriff Erik Weaver regarding the county’s temporary courthouse located within an office building on North Main Street in downtown Madison. Weaver said he was concerned that the courthouse’s sally port did not include a door to separate prisoners from the public. Officials say circuit court is set to move into the temporary facility June 12. Weaver also mentioned an ongoing problem at the sheriff’s office building of a leaking roof, which could potentially damage a $20,000 piece of MCSO equipment.

• Agreed to send a letter of support of a new radio station that has applied for permit from the Federal Communications Commission. County Administrator Lisa Kelley said the station says it aims to provide local news coverage of Madison County and other northern counties.