A Virginia Department of Transportation representative gave the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors a quarterly update on maintenance, construction and planning on June 3, outlining warm-season maintenance, the rural-rustic construction program, upcoming paving and SmartScale-funded projects.

Ben Davis, assistant resident engineer for land use at VDOT, told the board crews are continuing warm-season work such as mowing and paving and that lane and shoulder closures may increase during summer operations. He said heavy May rainfall caused temporary road closures and debris cleanup, that most repairs in Culpeper County are complete and larger repairs remain in neighboring counties.

Davis said the county’s rural-rustic program added segments including Poor Farm Road, a section of Madden’s Tavern Road and a section of O’Bannon’s Mill. He said five road segments built last year were tar-and-chipped this spring and would receive traffic engineering reviews to assign speed limits, generally 35 mph under the rural-rustic program.

Construction of Glen Ella Road is scheduled to start July 1 after the fiscal year. The 2025 paving program includes 54 lane miles of plant mix scheduled to begin in July in the Belpre area; most work is planned with Superior Paving.

For SmartScale-funded projects, Davis said Route 3 and Route 669 intersection improvements are on schedule and could be advertised in September 2028; a roundabout at Route 229 and Route 621 has a tentative advertisement in September 2029. Town projects include a roundabout and combined sidewalk/roundabout work to be delivered via design-build with possible construction as early as late 2026 or early 2027.

Davis reported a completed Route 652 (Mitchells Road) through-truck restriction study and said bridge maintenance this summer would focus on cleaning and debris removal with no long-term detours planned. He also said construction by All Points Broadband has stopped and VDOT, VITA and the county continue discussions about whether APB will complete permits and who will assume long-term responsibility for installed utilities.

Board members asked for timing clarifications on SmartScale projects and thanked VDOT staff for the report. Davis offered to follow up by email on outstanding questions.