Residents, volunteers and VDOT discuss trash, mowing and road maintenance in Henry County

Residents and volunteer groups pressed Henry County supervisors on Aug. 26 to address recurring roadside litter, mowing frequency and road maintenance; VDOT officials and the county’s state delegate described funding and operational limits.

Matt Davis, president of the Greater Bassett Area Community and Corporate group, said volunteers have conducted regular cleanups for years along state routes, mowing, planting and picking up litter. "It's an everyday battle," he said, urging more civic groups and businesses to adopt sections of road and support pickups. David Craig, another Blackberry District resident, said the same brands of beer cans and cigarette packs repeatedly appear in wooded sections and suggested enforcement against nighttime littering and attention to convenience stores and vape shops.

Lisa Hughes, a Virginia Department of Transportation representative, told the board VDOT was about halfway through its second round of mowing for secondary roads and is prioritizing sight-distance issues around school bus stops and intersections; she said callers can submit work orders to the Salem office. Hughes also said VDOT finished several paving and pipe projects and planned to resume primary-route mowing when weather permits.

Delegate Eric Phillips told the board the state funds VDOT largely through gasoline tax and other statewide sources; he said maintenance funding is distributed historically and that rural localities often struggle to qualify for Smart Scale projects that favor larger metrics. He said the commonwealth is considering rural road packages for future budgets and encouraged local messaging and special cleanup events to raise public awareness.

Supervisors thanked volunteers and pledged to discuss further steps with VDOT and local leaders; no formal county policy changes were adopted at the meeting.