Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Louisa supervisors press VDOT over short notice Route 33 detour during quarterly update
Summary
During VDOT's quarterly briefing, the board criticized what it called insufficient notice about a multi-week Route 33 closure and asked VDOT to improve communications and adjust signal timing while detours are in place. VDOT’s new Louisa resident engineer outlined local paving, culvert and bridge work.
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on June 15 pressed state transportation officials over short-notice communications related to a multi-week detour on Route 33 while hearing VDOT’s quarterly update.
Craig Simpson, introduced as VDOT’s new Louisa resident engineer, reviewed routine maintenance and project work: more than 2,000 pothole repairs, roughly 5.2 miles of shoulder repairs, plant-mix paving and surface treatments on several county routes, pipe replacements on Routes 605 and 522, and a boxed-culvert replacement on Route 33 with an anticipated completion date of July 31. “I just want to focus on the future and look for ways to improve our coordination with the County,” Simpson said as he outlined upcoming work and traffic management measures.
Board members raised immediate local concerns. A supervisor said the Route 33 work is located in front of a school and asked for clarity on detour routing; another asked about paving progress on Route 601 and temporary signals at Kentucky Springs and Haley Drive. Simpson confirmed the Route 33 culvert work is a permitted site project and said the contractor put the detour in place under an approved traffic management plan.
The board chair sharply criticized timing and coordination around the closure, saying county staff and residents had only seven days' notice of the final start date and that a promised joint press release and map process broke down. “The lack of urgency, the lack of responsiveness … created additional heartburn that shouldn't have been created,” the chair said, urging VDOT to adopt clearer procedures for notifying local officials and the public.
Simpson responded with a practical offer on traffic relief: “I’ll reach out to our traffic engineering group tomorrow and see what they can do about signal timing,” he said, committing to follow up on short-term actions to ease congestion during the detour.
Board members also asked about preserving a section of the Hamilton Road bridge abutment that VDOT staff said could be transferred to the county as a memorial feature; Simpson said that option is being priced and would be presented to the county for a decision.
The board closed the exchange by asking VDOT to improve coordination going forward and to provide staff and supervisors with quicker, clearer information when permitted construction will disrupt major routes.
The board did not take formal action on the Route 33 matter during the meeting; Simpson said he would follow up with county staff on signal timing and schedule confirmations.
