Dickenson officials review secondary 6‑year plan as county eyes two unpaved road projects

County staff presented the unpaved‑roads portion of the proposed secondary six‑year plan at a public hearing, saying county allocations and state rules limit how fast remaining dirt roads can be built.

At the hearing, a county official said Dickenson County now has only about "10 to 15 miles of unpaved road left" and described two unpaved projects on the plan: Little Caney Ridge and Lockhart Loop. "We've got one section here that the total cost of it is gonna be like $605,000," the presenter said of Little Caney Ridge, adding the county has accrued about $261,000 toward that project. He said Lockhart Loop is listed as about a $140,000 project that would follow Little Caney Ridge on the schedule.

The official explained why so few unpaved roads are being converted: the General Assembly and VDOT folded secondary projects into the Smart Scale process several years ago, and the residencies and county supervisors retained responsibility for unpaved roads. He said the state set aside a $25 million statewide pool for unpaved roads that is distributed by formula according to each county’s miles of unpaved roadway. "Statewide, there's $25,000,000 that said that they allocate for unpaved roads," he said.

He gave annual allocation figures for Dickenson County: roughly $90,000 per year from the unpaved‑road fund in recent years (the plan showed $60,000 in some early years) and roughly $28,500 per year from a separate telephone‑fee allocation tied to utility pole attachments in VDOT rights‑of‑way. The presenter summarized six‑year totals in the plan of about $483,000 from the unpaved‑road allocation and about $170,000 from the telephone‑fee fund, for roughly $654,000 combined across six years.

Eligibility rules were emphasized. The presenter said a road must have a traffic count greater than 50 vehicles per day to be eligible for conversion under the unpaved program: "For a road to qualify to be on the unpaved road list, it has to be with a traffic count greater than 50, is to be eligible for it to be constructed." He said traffic counts are verified before a road moves forward.

Members of the public asked about specific roads. One resident asked whether Bear Ridge and Hailey Ridge were in the system; staff replied Bear Ridge is an unpaved road that could receive unpaved‑road funds if eligibility (including the 50‑vehicle‑per‑day threshold) is met. Another attendee asked when Little Caney Ridge would reach construction; staff said, based on current accrual and forecasted allocations, that project would reach construction after the county accumulates the needed funds.

The hearing was limited to comment on the unpaved‑road portion of the plan. After public comment the board voted to adopt the proposed six‑year secondary plan as presented.