VDOT outlines secondary six-year plan, Crystal Lake Road start and series of safety projects for Nottoway County

A representative from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) briefed the Nottoway County Board of Supervisors on a draft secondary six-year plan and a slate of near-term construction and safety work on county-maintained roads.

Key items in the draft plan include a fully funded Crystal Lake Road project that VDOT said would begin construction within weeks; rural-rustic projects on Williamson Road that are held up pending a right-of-way study and negotiations with a private landowner; and priority entries for Barnes Lane (funding completion projected FY2028) and Hawthorne Drive (projected FY2031).

The VDOT presenter said the county's telephone-fee (tele-fee) funding balance for secondary projects stood at about $162,000 going into the fiscal year, with an expected accrual of roughly $33,000 per year for each of the six years covered by the plan. In the final year there is only about $11,000 unallocated, and staff did not propose a small project for that amount because typical rural-rustic hard-surface jobs cost significantly more.

VDOT also reported updates on other district projects:

- Route 46 bridge replacement: Concrete pours and pier wall work were on schedule; alternating lane closures were planned to begin April 28 and contractor mobilization would occur the following week. - ADA sidewalks in Crewe: Intersection ramp upgrades for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance were planned along U.S. 460 and on Carolina Avenue. - Systemic unsignalized intersection safety study: The district recommended warning signage and other modest countermeasures at the Spainville Road/Old Richmond Road intersection and the Turkey Island Road/Cellar Creek Road intersection. - Rumble strips: New sinusoidal edge-line rumble strips are planned for U.S. 360 through Nottoway and adjacent counties. VDOT described these as sinusoidal milled strips that are less jarring to neighbors while still reducing run-off-road crashes.

The VDOT presenter said the county may use tele-fee funds for projects that do not qualify for statewide rural-rustic paving because those projects fall below the 50 vehicles-per-day threshold; supervisors may choose to hard-surface such roads with tele-fee funds if they wish.

Board action: Supervisors gave consensus to advertise the draft secondary six-year plan for a public hearing on May 15; at the May 15 meeting the staff will read the plan into the record and then open the hearing.

Ending: VDOT staff asked board members to identify any routes they would like prioritized before formal programming begins in mid-June, noting that earlier local input reduces deliberation during work sessions and helps VDOT plan funding and right-of-way work.