VDOT program keeps rural roads rustic

by Don Audette, Fall 2003

Every fall, like the turning of the leaves, a Virginia Department of Transportation representative shows up at a Rappahannock County Board of Supervisor's meeting to ask what's happening with secondary roads in the county. Secondary roads are those with a route number of 600 or higher. VDOT wants to know who wants what done to their road so it can update its Secondary Six-Year Plan.

Red Oak Mountain Road, a scenic Rappahannock County road

Red Oak Mountain Road, one of many scenic roads in Rappahannock County.

Starting in 2003, Rappahannock County residents had another choice to consider for road improvements on unpaved roads: VDOT's Rural Rustic Road Program. Essentially, under the program, an unpaved road meeting certain criteria may be improved without disturbing the vegetation along the edges or tearing up the road to install drainage. No trees will be cut down, no hedges removed-the landscape will be left undisturbed.

This option has great appeal to many people. Instead of unpaved roads being leveled and straightened into speedways, the program allows a road to remain rustic. Over-arching trees are retained to provide cool shade in the hot summer, and the historic appearance of winding lanes is preserved.

The program came about because people asked for it. VDOT also discovered that incremental improvements-improving a short stretch here and there-was both costly and time consuming. This approach resulted in short, straight, level stretches where motorists speeded up, only to come upon a section that was unpaved, hilly, and curved.

VDOT tried the rural rustic road concept in a pilot program in July 2002. It worked. The environment was preserved and taxpayer money was saved. The program became effective July 1 of this year as the first alternative to be considered for improving all unpaved Virginia roads in the future.

For roads in a county to qualify for participation in the Rural Rustic Road Program, the following criteria must be met:

The road must be unpaved and already within the State Secondary System, that is, has a route number of 600 or higher.
The road must carry at least 50, but no more than 500, vehicles per 24-hour day.
The road must be a priority (line item) in an approved Secondary Six-Year Plan, even if the funding source is not from normal, secondary construction allocations.
The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors, in consultation with VDOT's Resident Engineer, must designate a road or road segment as a Rural Rustic Road.
The road or roadway section must be predominately used by local traffic.
The local nature of the road means that most motorists using the road have traveled it before and are familiar with its features.
The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors will have endeavored to limit growth on roads improved under the Rural Rustic Road program and cooperate with VDOT through the county's Comprehensive Plan to develop lands consistent with rural rustic road concepts.
The county Board of Supervisors must pass a special resolution designating each road to be included as a Rural Rustic Road.

At this point, VDOT takes over and checks out the candidate road by considering a number of things, such as the desires of the county's Board of Supervisors, residents, and owners of adjacent property, and the historical and aesthetic setting. VDOT's focus is to leave trees, vegetation, side slopes, and open drains abutting the road as undisturbed as possible.

VDOT also checks safety issues and determines if any safety expenditures, such as the costs for warning signs, are needed. VDOT has data showing that low-volume local roads have very few crashes. In some cases, lack of data may require a check of other source, such as local residents, law enforcement officials, evidence of skid marks, or roadside damage.

If all is well, VDOT starts the approval process with an exchange of information between it and the board on the candidacy of the road. VDOT then checks to see if the road would make it into the Secondary Six-Year Plan. If so, the Board of Supervisors approves the road's designation by resolution and a few more VDOT processing steps occur before the road is added.

What if people just want to keep a dirt or gravel road as it is? If enough people turn out to support keeping a road as it is, with Board of Supervisor concurrence, and if no safety issues are involved, VDOT will keep it that way. The table following shows the ways secondary roads may be improved.

Unpaved Road Improvement Program Options

	Unpaved Road	Pave-in-Place	Rural Rustic Road
Roadway status	The road must already be a state-maintained road in the secondary system of state highways. These programs do not apply to the addition and improvement of roads that are privately maintained.
Traffic volume (Limitations are based on funding.)	50 vehicles per day minimum for unpaved road funds, otherwise no minimum for normal secondary construction funding.	50-750 vehicles per day.	50-100 vehicles per day.
County government action and funding	Project must be in the County's Secondary Six-Year Plan (SSYP) of improvements.	Project must be in the County's SSYP of improvements.	Project must be in the County's SSYP of improvements. Board must also request the Rural Rustic Road Program be used, by passing a special resolution declaring the road a "Rural Rustic Road."
Land-use growth factor	No restrictions.	No restrictions.	The County Board indicates growth and traffic generated by the land are not expected to increase significantly over the next 10 years.
Safety	Safety factors are addressed as part of the project.	Safety factors are addressed as part of the project.	Ideally, the road can be paved as it is without any special needs regarding alignment, drainage, or safety issues.
Alignment	Reconstruct as necessary to improve alignment and grade.	Minor changes in alignment may be necessary to address issues.	Generally, the existing alignment should be capable of safely handling the traffic volume and increased speeds that may result from the improved riding conditions.
Drainage	Roadway drainage will be improved, if needed.	Roadway drainage will be improved, if needed.	Existing drainage provisions should be sufficient with minimal improvement.
Right of way	Abutting property owners need to provide additional right of way, normally 50 feet in width.	Paving many be done within the existing right of way, but abutting property owners are normally expected to donate additional right of way for spot widening, if necessary for safety.	Paving may be done within the existing right of way, which may be a minimum of 30 feet.