VDOT presents Dickenson County’s proposed FY27 secondary six‑year plan; supervisors and residents press for clarity on priorities

Joey Mullins, assistant resident engineer and acting residency administrator for VDOT’s WISE Residency, told the board at a May 26 public hearing that the proposed FY27 secondary six‑year plan relies chiefly on telefee funds and district grant money and that telefee funds are projected at $3,131,653.

Mullins said unpaved‑road district grant funding is a little over $90,000 for the next three years and then drops to about $60,000 in the FY31–32 year, and that unpaved allocations are divided by the number of unpaved road miles in each county. “So each year, you’ll see in the plan that there’s approximately $3,131,653 dollars is what's projected for the tele fee funds,” Mullins said.

The plan lists several projects: Route 649 intersection improvements (Mullins said the work is complete but still shows on the books pending final close‑out), ongoing funding for Little Caney Ridge (Route 644) and Lockhart Loop Road (Route 707) to accumulate resources until each can be built, and Countywide Transportation Services UPC projects that let VDOT use telefee funds for state‑force patching and small state services.

A board member questioned past choices and costs, criticizing a prior Rush Creek Road intersection project. The member said he had opposed the project and called the shown $1,000,000 expenditure “a poor choice” given the road’s low traffic. Mullins responded that the Rush Creek work was completed and that funding included coal severance funds and revenue‑sharing dollars, and he said the board makes decisions on revenue‑sharing applications.

Mullins described eligibility rules behind unpaved grants: a road must average at least 50 vehicles per day to qualify. He said some roads discussed by supervisors — including a Bear Ridge segment off Ailey Road — failed to meet the traffic‑count threshold in the last review. He also noted that the plan projects future costs with a level of inflation so multi‑year estimates aim to ensure sufficient funding when a project reaches construction.

Local officials pressed for more routine maintenance as well as larger projects. Supervisors thanked VDOT for recent paving on Whispering Pines and Snowball Hollow and urged more ditching; Mullins said VDOT completed a first mowing cycle on primaries and expects contract forces to resume second‑cycle mowing, freeing state crews for ditching work. He reminded residents that potholes can be reported to VDOT’s 1‑804‑ROAD number or through the MyVDOT site, which places the request on the area headquarters’ work list.

Board members and residents also raised site‑specific safety concerns: visibility problems near Caney Ridge where barrels are positioned, and the Cowen River slide repair — an AML (Abandoned Mine Land) project Mullins said must restore the roadway surface after remediation.

The hearing moved to public comment; those who spoke generally thanked VDOT for recent work and repeated requests for ditching and local attention. No formal changes were adopted during the hearing; the board recessed later in the evening to restore a physical quorum before continuing regular business.