AGENDA DATE: 5/18/2022
TITLE: VDOT/Albemarle County FY 23-28 Secondary Six-Year Plan; Unpaved Road Policies & Review Process; and Cove Garden Road Rural Rustic Road Designation le
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Conduct a public hearing on the approval of the Albemarle County Secondary Six-Year Plan for Fiscal Years 2023 through 2028; Approve changes to the Unpaved Road Policies & Review Process; Approve a Resolution designating Cove Garden Road as a Rural Rustic Road.
ITEM TYPE: Regular Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Hudson, Herrick, Filardo, Rapp, McDermott
PRESENTER (S): Kevin McDermott
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: This agenda item addresses three related road issues. First, a public hearing has been scheduled to receive input on the County’s proposed Secondary Six-Year Plan (SSYP) FY 23-28 (Attachment A). The SSYP allocates funding for construction, maintenance, and improvement of roads in the state secondary system (roads with a route number of 600 or higher). The funds allocated to Albemarle County through the SSYP include state and federal funds for a variety of road improvements. The SSYP for Albemarle County is updated and approved annually and identifies the funding source, use, and levels allocated for the immediate fiscal year. The SSYP also identifies projected funding allocations for the next five fiscal years.
At its March 16, 2022 Work Session, the Board supported the proposed SSYP, priorities, and recommendations with no changes requested. Attachment B is the Executive Summary from that Work Session and Attachment C is the Report on the SSYP Priorities and Recommendations. Attachment D is the FY 23 Albemarle County Priority List for Secondary Road Improvements, Unpaved Roads.
Second, at its March 16 Work Session, the Board also recommended that staff update the Unpaved Road Policies & Review Process to include additional specificity on the manner in which a request to pave a road is made. This update (Attachment G) involves the way that support for the paving is demonstrated. Additionally, staff has provided clarity on the list kept of Unpaved Roads Sections Removed by the Board of Supervisors.
Finally, staff is recommending a Resolution designating Route 633 (Cove Garden Road) as a Rural Rustic Road (RRR), to be funded for paving in FY 23. The SSYP includes funds dedicated to paving unpaved roads in the County under the RRR paving program. The RRR paving program is the preferred approach to paving low-volume roads with a goal of retaining the traditional rural lane ambience, while improving the road surface within the current right-of-way. The process for identifying and prioritizing RRR paving projects is defined in the Unpaved Road Policies and Review Process (see Attachment G).
When a paving priority is advanced, funds are allocated to the road and the road becomes a project in the SSYP. Within one year before paving the road, adjacent landowners are notified by letter are and given an opportunity to comment. Following that comment period, the Board may choose to designate by Resolution the road as an RRR or not. If a road is designated, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would initiate the paving process.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Infrastructure Investment: Prioritize, plan, and invest in critical infrastructure that responds to past and future changes and improves the capacity to serve community needs.
DISCUSSION: No updates have been made to the proposed SSYP since it was presented to the Board on March 16, 2022. The line item “Future Unpaved Account” represents funds projected for FY 26-28 that are not currently assigned to any project identified in the Proposed SSYP. As these fiscal years approach, staff will identify paving projects for the Board to consider as options for this funding. All Telefee funding in FY 23 is committed to the Berkmar Extension Revenue Sharing project. Beyond FY 23, all future Telefee funds are listed under the line item “Countywide Traffic Services”. These funds can be reallocated in the future to another project if one is identified.
The SSYP allocates funding to pave public unpaved roads from the County Priority List for Secondary Road Improvements, Unpaved Roads (Attachment D) that have been the subject of petitions by property owners and supported by the Board. Staff has received no public comment on the FY 23-28 SSYP.
At the March 16, 2022 SSYP Work Session, staff discussed clarifications to the Unpaved Roads Policies and Review Process. These clarifications include what amount of support is required to be provided with a paving request and direction on how that support is demonstrated and how the list of Unpaved Roads Sections Removed by the Board of Supervisors is managed. Attachment G is an updated version of that Policy document with strikethroughs to identify how the document was changed. A petition signed by 2/3 of the owners adjacent to the road segment requested to be paved must be included with the request.
In FY 23, Albemarle County will receive funds to pave the currently unpaved sections of Route 633 (Cove Garden Road). After the Work Session, notification letters were sent to property owners on that road requesting comment on the proposed RRR paving. Staff has received no public comment on the RRR designation of Route 633.
Cove Garden Road is in an area of the County designated by the Comprehensive Plan as Rural Area and is zoned accordingly. The Rural Area designation discourages new homebuilding and subdividing, and supports low intensity uses such as agriculture, forestry, and protection and preservation of natural resources. There is no pending development, and it is unlikely that any future development would be of an intensity that would increase traffic on Cove Garden Road due to the Rural Area designation. Following any RRR paving, VDOT performs a traffic engineering study to determine the appropriate speed. RRR’s have a maximum 35 mph posted speed limit. Speed bumps or other traffic calming modifications are typically done through VDOT’s traffic calming process and not as part of the RRR paving process.
BUDGET IMPACT: Adoption of these Resolutions would have no impact on the County budget. The SSYP outlines the proposed expenditure of State/VDOT secondary road construction funds allocated to the County. These resolutions authorize VDOT to expend those state funds on the selected projects. The SSYP does not require the expenditure of County funds unless the Board directs the appropriation of additional funding to a project, such as through the revenue sharing program.
RECOMMENDATION: After the public hearing staff recommends:
1. That the Board adopt the attached Resolution (Attachment F) approving the FY 23-28 Secondary Six-Year Plan and authorizing the County Executive to sign the Plan.
2. That the Board approve the updated Unpaved Road Policies and Review Process (Attachment G).
3. That the Board adopt the attached Resolution to designate Route 633 (Cove Garden Road) as a Rural Rustic Road (Attachment H).
ATTACHMENTS:
A - Proposed Albemarle County FY 23-28 SSYP
B - March 16, 2022 SSYP Work Session Executive Summary
C - March 16, 2022 SSYP Report
D - FY23 Albemarle County Priority List for Secondary Road Improvements, Unpaved Roads
E - Map of Albemarle Unpaved Roads & Paving Priorities 2022
F - Resolution Approving the FY23-28 SSYP
G - Unpaved Road Policies & Review Process-2022 Update (with strikethrough)
H - Resolution Designating Route 633 (Cove Garden Road) as a Rural Rustic Road