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Patrick County schedules hearing on VDOT proposal to discontinue Dogwood Road maintenance amid school safety debate
Summary
The board agreed to host a public hearing on discontinuing maintenance of Dogwood Road, a move VDOT proposed after school officials and residents raised safety concerns. The decision to schedule a hearing follows discussion of alternatives including speed enforcement, speed bumps, and limited-hour closures.
Patrick County’s Board of Supervisors voted July 14 to schedule a public hearing in September to consider a Virginia Department of Transportation proposal to discontinue maintenance of a section of Dogwood Road near Hardin Reynolds Memorial School.
VDOT staff told the board discontinuing routine county maintenance would begin a formal process that includes property-owner notifications and a county-hosted public hearing. A VDOT representative said the agency would handle the advertisements and owner notifications and that the county’s motion only starts the process and does not itself close the road.
School and facilities representatives said the proposal was driven by repeated safety concerns at the intersection where students cross during the school day. A school facilities representative said the proposal was offered as a no-cost option for the county and the school system and described recurring incidents in which vehicles had come close to students and teachers.
Small-business owners and residents urged caution. Jonathan Witt, owner of Clay & Twig, said closing Dogwood Road “will bring unintended consequences that hurt small businesses, residents, and the future of [the community],” and argued that permanent closure would divert visitors and shoppers away from businesses on the west side of the community. Witt cited traffic counts he said were 80 vehicles per day on Dogwood Road (based on 2014 counts) and contrasted that with more heavily used streets cited in other safety debates.
Residents and other speakers proposed alternatives to permanent closure, including targeted enforcement by the sheriff's office or state police, speed bumps or large speed cushions where allowed by VDOT, improved sight lines by cutting brush and trees, flashing school-zone lights, temporary or time-limited closures during school hours, and widening or minor corner improvements within existing rights-of-way. Board members also asked VDOT for options that would allow limited improvements (widening and brush clearing) to make turning movements easier if the road remains open.
During the discussion the board clarified that more planning and design work would be needed for infrastructure alternatives and that there was no current VDOT-funded design for a covered walkway or permanent crossing at the gym. The school facilities representative said there were no funded plans for a covered walkway to the gym and that earlier references to such a walkway were not part of a current, funded design.
The board voted to schedule a September public hearing to collect public comment and to give VDOT time to prepare formal notices and to provide the county with a list of possible alternatives and allowable mitigation measures.
No closure or final decision was made; the action schedules formal public comment and gives staff and VDOT time to present alternatives to the board.
