Transportation Program Development and Implementation Process

About the Program

Category: Transportation (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

Spotsylvania County’s November 2005 Bond Referendum included funding to improve high traffic volume secondary roads and to pave state-maintained unpaved roads. The county has relied on the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to prioritize and manage projects up until the Bond Referendum passed. The County Administration and Board of Supervisors adopted a fiscal year 2007 budget that included a small Department of Capital Projects Management to engage the public, establish objective ranking criteria and complete road projects to be accepted into VDOT’s maintenance system. With strong collaboration and input from the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, the County’s Transportation Program has eliminated complaints of politically driven or squeaky wheel project selection, provided easy to understand lists of projects that are to be funded. More importantly, the county has lists of projects that are not to be funded, and those to be funded through VDOT’s Secondary Road Six-year plan. The very best outcome is implementation of low cost ideas that arose from the citizens themselves, the County Sheriff Deputies, Judges and county staff. An unexpected outcome are the conversations that share safety tips to citizens that want to understand why or why not, such as why a traffic signal is not the best solution to resolve an accident location and why a pedestrian crossing of a high volume arterial is not a safe solution.